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SPANISH CONSPIRACY 

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AGAINST VENICE, 

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AGAINST 

THE REPUBLIC OF VENICE. 


TO WHICH 


SOME REMARKS ARE ADDED 


ON THE 

USE MADE OF THE HISTORY OF THE AUBE ST. REAL, 

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IN THE COMPOSITION OF 


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“ THE CONSPIRACY AGAINST VENICE, Of TFTE ABBE ST. 
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Butler's Reminiscences , p. 139. 


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INTRODUCTION. 


There are no enterprises so great as con¬ 
spiracies; courage, prudence, and fidelity, 
which are equally necessary in all who act 
a part in them, are naturally rare qualities, 
but it is still more uncommon to find them 
all united in the same person. As men 
often flatter themselves that they are more 
beloved than they really are, particularly 
when they merit it, and have taken pains to 





VI 


INTRODUCTION. 


make themselves so; some chiefs of con¬ 
spiracies have depended entirely on the af¬ 
fection of their colleagues ; but few friend¬ 
ships are strong enough to overcome the 
fear of death. Now if this affection is 
violent, it takes the place of reason in un¬ 
expected occurrences; it is not accompa¬ 
nied with the necessary discretion; and 
those who ardently wish a thing generally 
betray their anxiety. 

If a conspirator is so enlightened that 
there is no doubt of his discretion, he will 
never engage himself in an enterprise with 
the same eagerness as others, he will be too 
well acquainted with the extent and proba- 


INTRODUCTION. 


VII 


bilities of the perils to which he will be 
exposed, and the various means by which 
he may disengage himself; he will perceive 
that the advantages he may gain from the 
enterprise are doubtful, and that his reward 
is certain, if he reveals it. 

Besides, the greatest part of the abilities 
of men are founded on their experience, 
and they seldom reason justly in the first 
affair which passes through their hands; 
those are the wisest who profit by the faults 
which they commit, and derive from them 
knowledge and reasons to conduct them¬ 
selves better in future. But as there is no 
comparison either in danger or difficulty 


. i 


VIII 


INTRODUCTION. 


between a conspiracy and any other affair, 
no experience can give instruction or cer¬ 
tain reasoning for the conduct of a conspi¬ 
racy. To prevent the commission of a 
considerable fault it is necessary to have 
been already engaged in one, but a man is 
rarely concerned in two. If the first suc¬ 
ceeds, the benefit he derives from it gene¬ 
rally places him in a state which will pre¬ 
vent the necessity of exposing himself to 
the same risk; if he does not succeed he 
perishes, and if he escapes it seldom hap¬ 
pens that he will incur the same danger a 

i 

second time. 


It must be added to these inconveniences, 


INTRODUCTION. 


IX 


that whatever hatred a man may feel to¬ 
wards tyrants, the love of self is always 
stronger than hatred to others; that it is 
not sufficient that conspirators are faithful, 
if they are not persuaded that their compa¬ 
nions are equally so : that a chief must pay 
as much attention to the panic terrors, and 
even the most ridiculous fancies which may 
seize them, as to the greatest difficulties of 
his enterprise, because both are equally 
liable to ruin it; that a word alluding to 
another subject, an accidental gesture may 
make them believe that they are betrayed, 

« 

and hasten the execution; that a circum¬ 
stance of time or place, which may be of 
no importance, is sometimes sufficient to 




j 



X 


INTRODUCTION. 


alarm the mind from this simple reason, 
that it was not foreseen ; that from the dis¬ 
position of men they always imagine that 
their secret is suspected; they lind in all 
that is said or done before them reasons 
for believing that they are discovered; he 
who knows that he is guilty thinks that every 
thing alludes to himself. 

If these difficulties are almost insur¬ 
mountable in conspiracies against one per¬ 
son, what must those be which attack a 
number at once, which tend to the usurpa¬ 
tion of a city or a state, and which on this 
account require a longer time to arrange, 
and more people to execute them ? 


INTRODUCTION. 


XI 


1 hese considerations have always made 
me look upon conspiracies as the most 
moral and instructive parts of history ; and 
also induced me to communicate to the 
public the conspiracy of an ambassador of 
Spain, at Venice, against that republic in 
the year 1618*. 


* This conspiracy is spoken of in the History of 
Nani, book iii. p. 156 ; and in the fifth volume of the 
Mercure Frari^ais, for the year 1618, p. 38, which con¬ 
tains a letter written from Venice the 21st of May of the 
same year. The principal sources from which this 
recital is taken, such as the relation of the Marquis de 
Bedmar, the principal dispatch of the Captain Jacques 
Pierre to the Duke of Ossuna, the deposition of Jaffier, 
the trial of the conspirators, and several others, are to be 
found among the manuscripts of the national library: and 
the Scrutiny of Venetian Liberty, among the printed 
books. The rest is taken from various other manu¬ 
scripts. 


XII 


INTRODUCTION. 


I know not if my judgment has been 
seduced by the love of the subject which I 
have undertaken; but I confess that it ap¬ 
pears to me that nothing can better exem¬ 
plify what prudence can do in the affairs of 
the world, all that may arise from chance, 
the extent of the human mind and its boun¬ 
daries, its greatest elevation and its most 
secret weaknesses, the great consideration 
necessary in order to govern men, the dif¬ 
ference between good artifice and bad, be- 
tween art and cunning: and if malice is 
never more hateful than when it abuses the 
most excellent things, no doubt much more 
horror will be conceived for it, when in this 
history the greatest talents are seen to be 


INTRODUCTION. 


XIII 


employed with the most detestable inten¬ 
tion. Thus, one of the Grecian sages, see¬ 
ing a criminal maintaining a falsehood with 
wonderful firmness in the midst of torture, 
exclaimed : “ Oh wretch ! who hast per¬ 
verted so good a thing to so base a use!” 

















































SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


AGAINST VENICE. 










Cfonspuary of tf)c gbpamarlfs 

AGAINST 

THE REPUBLIC OF VENICE IN 1618 . 


The dispute between Paul V and the Re¬ 
public of Venice having been settled through 
the mediation of France, by giving to the 
Holy See the honour which is due to it, and 
to the Venetians the glory which they de¬ 
served, the Spaniards alone had cause to 
complain. As they had declared for the 
pope, and had offered to subdue the Vene¬ 
tians by arms, they were irritated that he 
had negotiated almost without their parti¬ 
cipation ; but having penetrated into the se¬ 
cret of the reconciliation, they discovered 
that the contempt with which they had been 
treated in this transaction proceeded from 
the republic. It was the senate that had 



o 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


wished to exclude them in some manner 
from the mediation. It affirmed that they 
could not be admitted as arbitrators after 
having shown so much partiality. 

Whatever resentment the Spaniards might 
have felt for this injury, they did not show 
it during the life of Henry IY; the obli¬ 
gations which the Venetians had conferred 
upon this prince, and the care that he had 
taken of their interests in their difference 
with the court of Rome, were too well 
known; but his death leaving them at li¬ 
berty, they only wanted a pretext. 

A horde of pirates, called the Uscoques, 
had settled in the states which the house of 
Austria possessed on the Adriatic Sea, con¬ 
tiguous to the Venetians. These robbers 
having committed a great number of outrages 
on the subjects of the republic, were pro¬ 
tected by the Archduke Ferdinand de Grez, 
the sovereign of this country, and afterwards 
emperor. He was a very religious prince; 
but his ministers shared the booty with the 
pirates : and as they were devoted to the 
court of Spain, they took this opportunity to 
revenge themselves on the Venetians. 


AGAINST VENICE. 3 

The Emperor Mathias, moved by the just 
complaints of the Republic, settled this dis¬ 
pute at Vienna, in February, 1612 ; but this 
agreement was so little regarded on the part 
of the archduke, that they came to open 
war, in which he did not obtain all those 
advantages which the Spaniards had ex¬ 
pected. 

The Venetians easily repaired by their 
prudence the losses which they sustained in 
several slight battles. As they had nothing 
to fear from the Turks, they could maintain 
this warfare much better than the archduke, 
who was pressed by the emperor to conclude 
a peace, because the sultan threatened .Hun¬ 
gary, and he wished to reserve a considerable 
sum of money to favour his election to the 
kingdom of Bohemia, which was made soon 
after. The Spaniards would willingly have 
supplied the means to prosecute this war, but 
Charles Emanuel, Duke of Savoy, against 
whom they were also in arms, would not 
suffer them to separate their forces; and as 
the duke received considerable supplies in 
money from the Venetians, they could never 
induce him to break with them. 


4 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


I 


The council of Spain were indignant at 
finding the influence of the Venetians every 
where superior. 

Philip III, and his favourite the Duke of 
Lerma, were both of pacific dispositions ; and 
could not devise any means by which to 
extricate themselves from this embarrass¬ 
ment; but one of their ministers in Italy, 
who was not so moderate, undertook to re¬ 
lieve them. 

This minister was Don Alphonso de la 
Cueva, Marquis de Bedmar, the accredited 
ambassador at Venice, and one of the most 
powerful and dangerous geniuses Spain has 
ever produced. We see by the writings he 
has left that he was acquainted with every 
thing in ancient and modern histories that 
can form an extraordinary man. He com¬ 
pared the circumstances related in them with 
those that happened in his own time. He 
observed with precision the resemblances and 
differences of political affairs, and how much 
the points in which they differ change those 
in which they bear the resemblances. He 
generally pronounced his opinion on the suc¬ 
cess or failure of an enterprise when he knew 


AGAINST VENICE. 


O 


the plan and the foundations. Jf he found 
by the result that he had been mistaken, he 
traced back his error to its source, and en¬ 
deavoured to discover what had deceived 
him. By this study he had learnt what 
were the certain methods, and the true 
means, and the principal circumstances which 
in great undertakings presage success. This 
practice of continually reading, meditating, 
and observing the things that passed in the 
world, had given him so much sagacity that 
his conjectures were regarded almost as pro¬ 
phecies by the Spanish council. 

With this profound knowledge of the na¬ 
ture of important affairs, he possessed a sin¬ 
gular talent in managing them; a facility in 
speaking and writing, infinitely agreeable; 
a wonderful quick and penetrating knowledge 
of men; a frank and gay air, with more of 
animation than gravity, and so far removed 
from the appearance of dissimulation that it 
approached almost to naivete; he was of a 
free and complaisant temper, more impene¬ 
trable because every one thought they could 
see through it; he had tender and flattering 

B 2 


I 


0 SPANISH CONSPIRACY 

manners, which invited confidence from the 
most reserved ; and every appearance of per¬ 
fect easiness of mind under the greatest agi¬ 
tation. 

The ambassadors of Spain were able at 
that time to rule the courts to which they 
were sent; and the Marquis de Bedmar had 
been chosen for Venice in the year 1607 , as 
far the most difficult of the foreign appoint¬ 
ments ; and in which no help could be re¬ 
ceived either from women, monks, or fa¬ 
vourites. The council of Spain was so well 
satisfied with him that they could not re¬ 
solve to recall him even after he had been 
there six years, although they wanted him 
elsewhere. 

This long residence gave him time to study 
the principles of this government, to penetrate 
into the greatest secrets, and to discover the 
strong and the weak parts, the advantages 
and the defects. As he saw that the arch¬ 
duke would be obliged to make a peace which 
must be disgraceful to the house of Austria, 
because it was the aggressor, he resolved to 
attempt something to prevent it. 


AGAINST VENICE. 


7 


He considered that in the present state of 
Y r enice it was not impossible to make himself 
master of it, with the partisans which he had 
there, and the forces which he could rely on. 
The armies had deprived it of arms, and even 
of the men capable of using them. As the 
fleet had never been so fine, the senate had 
never thought themselves so strong, or felt, 
less fear; yet this invincible fleet could not 
leave the coast of Istria, which was the seat 
of the war. The army was not nearer, and 
there was not any thing at Venice to oppose 
a descent of the naval army of Spain. To 
render this descent more certain, the Mar¬ 
quis de Bedmar resolved to seize the princi¬ 
pal posts, such as the Place of St. Mark, 
and the arsenal; and as it would be difficult 
to do so while the citv was in a state of trail- 
quillity, he considered it necessary to set all 
those places on fire which were the most lia¬ 
ble to it, and would be the most important to 
rescue. He determined not to write to Spain 
at first, knowing that princes do not like to 
explain themselves on affairs of this nature 
until they are so far advanced that nothing is 
necessary for the execution of them but to be 


8 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


certain of their approbation if they succeed. 
He contented himself with remarking to the 
Duke de Uzeda, principal secretary of state, 
that seeing the disgrace the house of Austria 
incurred in the war of Friuli, from the inso¬ 
lent conduct of the Venetians, and that all 
the means of accommodation which had been 
tried at Vienna and elsewhere were shameful, 
he thought himself in a situation where na¬ 
ture and policy required a faithful subject to 
have recourse to extraordinary means in or¬ 
der to preserve his prince and his country 
from infamy otherwise inevitable ; that this 
care regarded him particularly on account of 
his employment, and having constantly before 
his eyes the sources of the evil which must 
be remedied, no person could judge better 
than himself what that remedy should be; 
and that he should endeavour to perform this 
duty in a manner worthy of his zeal for the 
dignity of his master. 

The Duke de Uzeda, who knew his cha¬ 
racter, immediately perceived that this dis¬ 
course concealed some dangerous and impor¬ 
tant enterprise; but as wise people never 
inform themselves of such things unless they 



AGAINST VENICE. 


9 


are forced to do so, he did not communicate 
his suspicions to the first minister, but replied 
in general terms to the Marquis de Bedmar, 
that he approved of his zeal, and left the rest 
to his usual prudence. 

The marquis, who did not expect any other 
answ’er, was not surprised at his coldness, he 
now thought only of arranging his plans so 
that he should be certain of approval. 

No monarchy in the world has ever been 
as absolute as the authority with which the 
senate of Venice governed that republic. 
They make a great difference in the slightest 
things between those who are noble and those 
who are not. The nobles only can command 
in the countries dependant on this republic, 
the principal noblemen and magistrates in 
these countries live with them rather as with 
sovereigns than governors ; and if the repub¬ 
lic ever bestows on strangers the highest rank 
in their army, it is always on condition that 
they shall be subject to the orders of a Ve¬ 
netian commander in chief, who in fact 
leaves them nothing but the care of executing 
them. 

As there is no pretext for taxing the peo- 


10 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


pie so plausible as a war, that against the 
Uscoques gave the nobles who had the di¬ 
rection of it a favourable opportunity to 
enrich themselves. This war was very ex¬ 
pensive ; besides the money expended in 
Piedmont, it was necessary to keep up a 
third army in Lombardy to oppose the go¬ 
vernor of Milan, who threatened a diversion 
in favour of the archduke. 

The justice of the republican cause ren¬ 
dered the commanders bolder in inventing 
new oppressions, but did not give the people 
more patience to endure them. They rose to 
such a height that the Marquis de Bedmar 
was convinced that the revolution which he 
meditated would be as agreeable to the peo¬ 
ple as fatal to the nobles. 

There were also many among the nobles who 
were discontented with the government; these 
were the partisans of the Holy See. Others, 
by far the greatest number, were ambitious and 
vindictive, and irritated that the republic had 
been governed contrary to their advice during 
the quarrel with the court of Rome. They 
were disposed to do and suffer any thing to 
take the authority from those who possessed 


AGAINST VENICE. 11 

it; and would have looked upon the miseries 
of their country with joy, as the conse¬ 
quences of conduct which they had not ap¬ 
proved. Some others, simple and unculti¬ 
vated, wished to be more Catholic than the 
pope himself; as he had withdrawn his pre¬ 
tensions in the accommodation, they imagined 
that he had been obliged to do so from po¬ 
licy, and that, if there had been any mental 
reservation in this affair, it was to be feared 
that the excommunication still existed in the 
intention of his holiness. Among this num¬ 
ber were a few senators, as poor in fortune as 
in mind, who were of great use to the Mar¬ 
quis de Bedrnar, after he had persuaded them 
by his largesses that, since this affair, it was 
impossible to be a Venetian with a safe con¬ 
science. 

Although there is a severe prohibition to 
prevent the nobles from having any commu¬ 
nication with strangers, the marquis found 
means to form connexions with the most dis¬ 
contented. If they had any near relation in 
a convent, a mistress, or a confidential con¬ 
fessor, he gave any price to make himself 
known to them, and made them presents: 


12 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


which, though they were generally curiosities 
from foreign countries, were nevertheless of 
great value. These presents, which seemed 
without any motive, made those who received 
them think that they might be able to obtain 
much more: with this view they entirely sa¬ 
tisfied his curiosity in every thing that he 
inquired of them, and took pains to learn 
every thing that they were not sufficiently 
acquainted with, to answer all his questions; 
and his gratitude surpassing their expecta¬ 
tions, they lost no time in engaging their 
patrons in this commerce. We must believe 
that necessity was the cause of this, and that 
the nobles could not, without envy, see per¬ 
sons entirely dependant on them become 
more rich than themselves by presents which 
were only made them on account of their 
patrons. Whatever the cause might be, from 
that time there were no deliberations in the 
senate which were not revealed to the Spanish 
ambassador, he was informed of all the reso¬ 
lutions which were made; and the generals 
of the archduke knew all the plans which 
related to the war, before those of the repub¬ 
lic received their orders to execute them. 


AGAINST VENICE. 


13 


With these connexions the ambassador 
found a considerable number of armed men 
necessary to ensure the success of his enter¬ 
prise ; but as a powerful Spanish army was 
in Lombardy, he did not fear the want of 
men, provided there should be a governor 
of Milan capable of entering into his de¬ 
signs. The Marquis de Inojosa, who pos¬ 
sessed that post, was too much connected 
with the Duke of Savoy to agree to them, 
he had just signed the Treaty of Ast, in 
which France and the Venetians had been 
the mediators. The ambassador, who knew 
that this negotiation would not be approved 
in Spain, wrote to have him recalled ; and 
solicited Don Pedro de Toledo, Marquis de 
Villafranca, at the same time to ask for the 
government of Milan. Don Pedro received 
orders to depart immediately to take the 
place of D’lnojosa, towards the conclusion 
of the year 1615; and he was no sooner 
arrived at Milan than he gave notice of it at 
Venice, through the Marquis de Lara. 

The ambassador communicated his plans 
to this marquis in the way he thought most 
likely to make him agree to them, and parti- 

c 


14 SPANISH CONSPIRACY 

cularly charged him to learn if the new go¬ 
vernor could furnish him with one thousand 
five hundred men, chosen from his best troops. 
Don Pedro, delighted with the greatness of 
the enterprise, resolved to second it as far as 
was in his power, without exposing himself 
to certain ruin if it failed. He sent the 
Marquis de Lara to Venice a second time, 
to inform the ambassador of his intentions; 
but at the same time he begged him to con¬ 
sider that it was impossible to send the men 
he wanted without carefully selecting them; 
and that if they perished, he should be inex¬ 
cusable tor having exposed the bravest sol¬ 
diers in his army to so much danger; that 
nevertheless he would send him as many as 
he could, and that he would choose them so 
well that he would answer for them as for 
himself. 

Nothing was more important to the am¬ 
bassador s plans than to prevent any accom¬ 
modation. With this view he obliged the 
Maiquis ae Lara to make the most unrea¬ 
sonable proposals of peace to the senate, in 
the name of the governor of Milan. The 
senate replied with indignation, as he had 


AGAINST VENICE. 


15 

foreseen, and refused to enter into any nego¬ 
tiation with them. Don Pedro omitted no¬ 
thing on liis part to exasperate them farther. 
The Duke of Mantua was little disposed to 
pardon his rebellious subjects, which he pro¬ 
mised by the Treaty of Ast, he was encou¬ 
raged to persist in this resolution, and to 
continue the executions. Proposals were 
made to the Duke of Savoy to fulfil this 
treaty, which it was well known he would 
never accede to; and they excused them¬ 
selves from disarming their troops after he 
had done so (as should have been the line 
to be pursued), on the pretext that Spain 
could no longer with honour refuse to take 
part in the war of Friuli; the Venetian army 
had passed the Ligonzo, and invested Gra- 
disca, the capital of the archduke’s states. 

The council of Spain, which had hitherto 
appeared neutral, threatened to declare them¬ 
selves when they saw that it was intended to 
plunder the archduke. At this period ended 
the difference which existed in the house of 
Austria, between the branch of Spain and 
that of Germany, since the dispute of the son 
and brother of Charles V, concerning the 


16 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


succession to the empire. The interest which 
Spain took in this war was the first sign of 
this reconciliation. Don Pedro caused the 
colonel of horse, Gambalotta, to advance 
towards Crema with his troops, and mounted 
twenty-four pieces of cannon at Pavia, which 
he gave out were to accompany a body of 
eight thousand men, commanded by Don 
Sancho de Lima. On the other side, the 
Viceroy of Naples, who was cruising in the 
Mediterranean with the Spanish fleet, threat¬ 
ened to attack the Duke of Savoy at Villa 
Franca. He prevented the approach of all 
the reinforcements which came by sea to the 
republic, and kept himself always ready to 
enter the Gulf to check the Venetian fleet. 
The Venetian ministers having protested 
against the violence of these proceedings, 
in all the different courts, the Marquis de 
Bedmar undertook to justify them ; he even 
thought that it was necessary to his designs 
to destroy that respect which all Europe had 
shown for so many ages to this republic, as 
the most free and ancient cf states. This 
liberty had lately been proved and raised 
higher than ever, on the occasion of the dis- 



AGAINST VENICE. 


17 


pute with the Pope, in several pamphlets, 
which still passed for unanswerable, though 
the opposite party had not been deficient in 
men of ability who had replied to them. 

The ambassador, having examined them 
again, refuted the numerous volumes of the 
Venetian authors, in a few chapters, without 
deigning to name them ; and as there are no 
questions on matters of this nature, which a 
inan of talent may not render problematical, 
under the pretext of establishing the right of 
the emperors over Venice, he made it evident 
that the independence of this republic was 
nothing but a chimera, as well as their power 
on the sea. As it was not necessary to his 
purpose that he should be known as the au¬ 
thor of this libel, he had it published so se¬ 
cretly that it was not ascertained during his 
life that he had any concern in it. It seems 
extraordinary that he should not have been 
suspected, but it is probable that the Vene¬ 
tians did not know him at that time; his 
lively animated manners, which he particu¬ 
larly affected, would not lead them to sup¬ 
pose that a man of such an impetuous cha¬ 
racter could be the author of a satire on the 

c 2 


> 


IB 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


state, of such refined delicacy. Equity and 
sincerity seemed to pervade it, and the de¬ 
clamations against the attempts of the Vene¬ 
tians which were dispersed through it were 
written apparently with great moderation, 
which alone was sufficient to render them 
plausible. This work, which was entitled 
“ Squittinio della Liberia Veneta,” made a 
great noise. 

As the author was unknown, the sus¬ 
picions naturally fell on the court of Home 
on account of the preceding publications. The 
learned men of the senate thought that every 
one would feel the force of it as much as they 
did; they were as much alarmed as they 
would have been at the loss of a battle; 
and Father Paul was ordered to examine it. 
This man, who had ridiculed all the writers 
of the opposite party, declared that this 
last must not be answered, because it could 
only be done by explaining things which had 
better be left in the obscurity of antiquity; 
but if the senate judged it compatible with 
the dignity of the republic to resent this in¬ 
sult, he would undertake to make the court 
of Home find such difficulty in defending 


AGAINST VENICE. 


19 


itself, that it should never again think of 
being the aggressor. This advice, which was 
followed in the first heat of resentment, gave 
Father Paul the pleasure of publishing his 
beloved history of the Council of Trent, which 
would never have appeared during his life, if 
he had not had this opportunity. 

Meanwhile the campaign of 1616 had 
passed without any considerable advantage 
on either side, the Duke of Savoy and the 
Venetians, who would not hazard a second, 
empowered Gritti, the Venetian ambassador 
at Madrid, to renew the negotiation. The 
Spaniards, indignant at the resistance they 
had met with, made such unreasonable de¬ 
mands that they could not be consented to. 
Gradisca was still blockaded. The warfare 
continued during the winter, and the armies 
took the field in the spring with an ardour 
which promised greater successes than those 
of the preceding year. The truce of Holland 
having rendered the greater part of the troops 
of that state useless, and obliged the French 
and German adventurers to seek employment 
elsewhere; the Counts Nassau and Lieves- 


/ 


20 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


tien brought eight thousand Dutch or Wal¬ 
loons to the service of the Republic. 

The Spaniards made many complaints to 
the Pope that the Venetians exposed Italy to 
the infection of heresy by the communication 
with these soldiers; but the Venetian am¬ 
bassador gave him to understand that the 
Spaniards spoke thus, less for the interest of 
religion than from displeasure at finding two 
great republics uniting their forces against 
them. 

The Marquis de Bedmar would have been 
much embarrassed if the pope had obliged 
the Venetians to dismiss these heretics. As 
most soldiers w hen they serve a foreign prince 
have nothing but profit in view, he hoped to 
engage the commanders of these mercenary 
troops in his enterprise by the means of a 
considerable sum of money and the expecta¬ 
tion of plundering Venice. To negotiate this 
affair, he fixed upon an old French gentle¬ 
man named Nicholas de Renault, a ms|n of 
learning and judgment, and who had fled to 
Venice for some cause which could never be 
discovered; the Marquis de Bedmar had seen 



AGAINST VENICE. 


21 


him many times at the house of the French 
ambassador where he lived. In some con¬ 
versations which they happened to have to¬ 
gether, Renault found that the marquis pos¬ 
sessed as much talent as he was reported to 
have, and the marquis being glad to have a 
friend of such a character at the house of the 
French ambassador had become very inti¬ 
mate with him. 

Although this man was extremely poor, 
he esteemed virtue more than riches ; but he 
loved fame more than virtue, and for the 
want of innocent means of obtaining it, there 
were none so criminal that he would not 
pursue. He had derived from the writings 
of the ancients that rare indifference for life 
and death which is the principal foundation 
of all extraordinary enterprises, and he always 
regretted those celebrated times, when the 
genius of individuals formed the destiny of 
states, and where all those who possessed 
any never wanted occasions to display it. 

The Marquis de Bedmar, who had studied 
his character, and who needed a man to whom 
he could entirely confide the conduct of his 
enterprise, explained it to him, telling him 


22 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


that he had depended on him from the 
first moment he had planned it. Renault 
thought himself more obliged for this assur¬ 
ance than for the greatest praises; his ad¬ 
vanced age did not deter him from this en¬ 
gagement, the less time he had to live the 
less he had to risk. He thought he could 
not better employ the few years he had yet 
to pass than in hazarding them to render his 
name immortal. The Marquis de Bedmar 
gave him the letters of exchange and credit 
which were necessary to negotiate with the 
Dutch commanders, he charged him not yet 
to explain his designs, but to give them to 
understand that as things had risen to such a 
height between the house of Austria and the 
republic, the Ambassador of Spain, who was 
at Venice, foresaw circumstances which might 
expose his person to the fury of the populace, 
and, that to ensure his safety, he wished to 
secure a considerable number of resolute and 
faithful friends. The pretext was evident, 
but the slightest veil is useful in these affairs; 
it matters little if a mystery is seen, provided 
that it is not penetrated. By these means he 
hoped to seduce the flower of the Venetian 



AGAINST VENICE. 




army, and that the remainder would be so 
feeble that Don Pedro would find it easy to 
defeat it on the way, if an attempt was made 
to bring it to Venice to oppose the conspira¬ 
tors. 

The fleet was much more to be feared, it 
would always have the power of vanquishing 
them, and was much easier to bring up. The 
greater part of the mariners were natural sub¬ 
jects of the republic. It was impossible to 
doubt that they would not hasten to Venice 
on the first alarm. It would be too uncer¬ 
tain a chance to trust to the Spanish fleet 
defeating them, and it would not have been 
prudent to leave to the doubtful result of a 
battle the success of so hazardous an enter¬ 
prise, it was therefore necessary to find some 
other means of rendering this fleet incapable 
of service. 

The ambassador, who was not so experi¬ 
enced in maritime affairs as the Viceroy of 
Naples who commanded the naval army of 
Spain, thought himself obliged to consult him 
on this occasion. This viceroy, who was to 
act the principal part in the tragedy which 
the ambassador was composing, was that 


24 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


Duke of Ossuna so famous for his gallan¬ 
tries, and as enterprising as Don Pedro and 
the Marquis de Bedmar. This resemblance 
of character had caused great intimacy be¬ 
tween these three ministers. Don Pedro and 
the Duke of Ossuna were not great men in 
the cabinet, the duke was even subject to 
extravagances which approached to insanity; 
but the deference they both had for the mar¬ 
quis served instead of the talents which they 
did not possess. 

The profits which piracy brings to those 
who practise it under a powerful protection 
had drawn to the court of the Viceroy of 
Naples all the famous Corsairs of the Medi¬ 
terranean. The viceroy, fertile in extraor¬ 
dinary designs, and rather prodigal than ava¬ 
ricious, did not protect them so much for the 
share of the booty which they presented to 
him, as to have always about him a number 
of men ready to do any thing. Not content 
with merely receiving them, when he heard 
of one of more than common merit, he sou ght 
him and offered him so many advantages that 
he invariably brought him to his court; he had 
acted in this manner towards Jaques Pierre, 


AGAINST VENICE. 


25 


a Norman by birth, and so famous in this 
trade that all the others were proud of having 
served under him. 

The mind of this captain did not partake 
of the barbarity which is usually the conse¬ 
quence of this kind of life. Having gained 
enough to subsist on with decency, he re¬ 
solved to quit it though still in the flower of 
his age, and chose the states of the Duke of 
Savoy for his retreat. This prince, an ad¬ 
mirer of extraordinary talents, and appreci¬ 
ating them more from being himself liberally 
endowed by nature, as he knew the corsair 
to be one of the bravest men in the world, 
permitted him to establish himself at Nice. 
All seamen who visited this coast, soldiers, 
officers, and sailors regularly made their 
court to the captain; his counsels were their 
oracles, he was an arbitrary sovereign in all 
their disputes, and they could never enough 
admire a man who had abandoned a profes¬ 
sion in which he had succeeded so well and 
the most difficult in the world to quit. 

Of this number was a native of Marseilles 
named Vincent Robert, who, having touched 
at Sicily, was so well received by the viceroy 

D 




*20* SPANISH CONSPIRACY 

that he entered into his service. The duke, 
finding 1 that Robert was a comrade of the 
captain, familiarly complained that his friend 
had preferred the states of the Duke of Savoy 
to his government in choosing his retirement. 
In making this complaint, he expressed ex¬ 
traordinary esteem for the courage and expe¬ 
rience of the captain in maritime affairs, and 
ended by declaring that he would spare no 
effort to attract a man of such singular merit 
to his court. Robert undertook this negoti¬ 
ation with joy, and it was carried on with so 
many advances on the side of the viceroy 
that the captain was obliged to yield, and 
went to settle in Sicily with his wife and 
children. 

As the captain had not yet lost sight of 
the sea, he was not entirely cured of his pas¬ 
sion for it. The viceroy had lately caused 
such fine galleons to be built, and several 
Turkish caravels were out with escorts so 
small that the captain could not resist the 
temptation. He had no reason to repent it, 
he made an incredible booty, and the Duke 
of Ossuna, who from that time lived with him 
as with a brother, gave him the greatest part 


AGAINST VENICE. 27 

of it on condition that lie would follow him 
to Naples, where he had received orders 
from the king to go and take the command, 
and that he would take a journey into Pro¬ 
vence and seduce all the best seamen he 
knew on that coast. The captain brought 
back a sufficient number to man five great 
galleys belonging to the viceroy himself, and 
over which he had an absolute power. With 
this little fleet he pillaged all the isles and 
coasts of the Levant with impunity, and 
finished his campaign by a great battle in 
which he took or sunk a squadron of Turkish 
galleys. 

It was at this time that the Marquis de 
Bedmar communicated his designs to the 
Duke of Ossuna, certain that he should find 
no difficulty to engage him in them. The 
duke, who affected the empire of the sea, 
ardently desired to ruin those who alone 
could dispute it with him, and who were not 
so easy to defeat as the Turks. He dis¬ 
closed his wishes to the captain, and ap¬ 
prised him of all the difficulties. He did not 
think them insurmountable, and after a few 
days of private conference, the captain left 


28 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


Naples precipitately, and in a manner that 
showed great alarm. The viceroy sent out 
people in every direction excepting the way 
he went, with orders to take him alive or 
dead. His wife and children were impri¬ 
soned, and detained from that time in a state 
apparently cruel. His property was confis¬ 
cated, and the anger of the duke was so 
vehement that all Naples was astonished, 
although it was well known that he was ex¬ 
tremely passionate; as the captain was not 
less so than the duke, their misunderstanding 
was easily believed, and it was supposed that 
this man had conspired against Spain or the 
interests of the duke and his particular de¬ 
signs ; in the mean time he returned to his 
former retreat. 

The Duke of Savoy was at open war with 
Spain. He was known to be extremely ge¬ 
nerous. Although he had expressed some 
displeasure when the captain quitted his states 
and went to Sicily, the impostor did not he¬ 
sitate to throw himself at his feet. He re¬ 
lated to him two or three false stories of the 
designs of the duke against the republic of 
Venice, horrible even to think of, but which 


AGAINST VENICE. 


29 


had nothing in common with what he intend¬ 
ed, and said that as he could not with honour 
engage in them, he wished to take some mea¬ 
sures to escape from Naples with his family 
and property, but finding that the viceroy 
had discovered his resolution, he had been 
obliged to fly in a miserable condition to 
shelter himself from his fury, and had been 
obliged to leave all that he valued in the 
world in the power of the most cruel of men. 

The Duke of Savoy was touched with pity 
at this sad story, and received him with open 
arms. He told the corsair that as his inte¬ 
rests were closely united with those of the 
republic, he would undertake to acknowledge 
the service he had done to the common cause, 
if the Venetians did not; he added, that it 
was important that the senate should be in¬ 
formed of the designs of the Duke of Ossuna 
from his own mouth, and after having ex¬ 
horted him to bear his misfortunes like a man 
of courage, furnished him with every thing 
necessary, and having made him a magnifi¬ 
cent present, he sent him to Venice with let¬ 
ters of credit and recommendation. 

The Venetians were not less compassionate 

D 2 


30 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


than the Duke of Savoy. The flight, the 
tears, the poverty, the despair, the reputation 
of the captain, the hope that he would draw 
into their service the great number of adven¬ 
turers that he had engaged in the service of 
the Duke of Ossuna, but above all the de¬ 
signs which he imputed to the duke, and 
which he had made appear as probable as it 
was necessary, all these things were so much 
in his favour that he immediately obtained the 
command of a vessel. Nevertheless, Con- 
tarini, ambassador at Rome, represented that, 
as this man came from the Duke of Ossuna, 
he ought to be suspected, but the fear which 
had produced in the minds of the Venetians 
the credulity which always follows it over¬ 
came this advice. A short time after, the 
fleet being at sea, the captain, who knew that 
it was of importance that he should signalize 
himself, made several prizes so considerable 
of the Uscoques in some commissions which 
he obtained to pursue them, that, on his re¬ 
turn, eleven vessels were added to the one he 
already commanded. 

He sent an account of his success to the 
Duke of Ossuna, and concluded his despatch 


AGAINST VENICE. 


31 


in these words : “ If these pantaloons con¬ 
tinue to believe as lightly as they have hi¬ 
therto done, I may presume to assure your 
excellency that I shall not lose my time in 
this country.” He wrote at the same period 
to all his comrades whom he had left at Na¬ 
ples to engage them in the service of the re¬ 
public. It was not difficult to seduce them; 
after his flight, the viceroy, feigning that he 
suspected them, treated them as ill as he had 
hitherto treated them well. 

The Duke of Ossuna complained much of 
the protection which the republic had granted 
to the captain. To revenge himself he har¬ 
boured the Uscoques whom the Venetians 
had driven from their asylum. Under his 
protection they again began to cruise; they 
took a large vessel which was going from 
Corfu to Venice, and publicly sold the booty 
under his flag. He violated the freedom of 
the ports, made considerable reprisals for 
slight grievances, refused to obey the orders 
from Spain, to restore what he had seized, 
and published a manifesto to excuse his dis¬ 
obedience. He sent a great fleet to cruise in 
the Adriatic, and caused the prizes which had 



3’2 SPANISH CONSPIRACY 

been taken from Venice to enter Naples in 
triumph. He at last ruined their trade even 
at the expense of the Neapolitans who were 
interested in it; and the farmers of the revenue 
of the kingdom venturing to complain, he 
threatened to have them hanged. 

As war had not been declared between 
Spain and the republic, the Venetians could 
not recover from the astonishment caused by 
this irregular conduct. Almost every one 
imputed it simply to the extravagance of the 
Duke of Ossuna; but the wisest, who knew 
that there are no people so useful as these 
sort of fools when they are made use of, 
thought that Spain took advantage of the 
duke’s caprices to do all these things, which 
could be neither acknowledged nor upheld. 
His most familiar discourses were of sur¬ 
prising the posts of Xstria belonging to the 
republic, of pillaging their islands, and even 
of making a descent on Venice if it was pos¬ 
sible. He studied the plan of it with his 
courtiers, he had exact maps made of the 
environs, he made boats, brigantines, and 
other small vessels adapted to canals; he 
tried how much weight different depths of 


AGAINST VENICE. 


33 


water could support, and invented every day 
new machines to diminish weight and facili¬ 
tate movement. The Venetian resident at 
Naples gave exact accounts of all these pro¬ 
ceedings, to the great vexation of the Marquis 
de Bedmar, who began to repent that he had 
bound up his interests with so rash a man; 
but the success deceived his fears. 

The viceroy did all these things so openly 
that the Venetians only laughed at him. The 
wisest even could not believe that any thing 
serious could be concealed under such open 
demonstrations. The duke continued his pre¬ 
parations without any one being offended at 
them, and his indiscretion, which might have 
ruined the enterprise, advanced it more than 
the circumspection of the Marquis de Bedmar, 
who, nevertheless, judged that it was neces¬ 
sary to hasten the execution of it, either that 
the Venetians might not have leisure to re¬ 
flect, or on account of the personal danger to 
which he was continually exposed. The Ve¬ 
netian fleet having once offered battle to that 
of Spain (which refused it), and having pil¬ 
laged the coasts of Puglia, the rabble of 
Venice were so insolently overjoyed that the 


34 SPANISH CONSPIRACY 

ambassador and all his household would cer¬ 
tainly have been destroyed if guards had not 
been sent to protect them. 

He received the same day news from the 
camp at Gradisco which consoled him for this 
accident. Renault informed him that he had 
found the soldiers so happily disposed that 
his negotiation had been concluded in a very 
short time. The ambassador ordered him to 
go to Milan before he returned, and Don 
Pedro received him with those caresses with 
which the great are accustomed to blind those 
who are ruining themselves in their service. 
They agreed together that it was necessary 
to have some town in the states of the Vene¬ 
tians, which they might take possession of 
at the same time as they seized Venice; that 
this town would awe the others, serve as 
head quarters for the Spanish array ’which 
would attack them, and as a check to that of 
the Venetians if it should attempt to succour 
them. 

Renault passed by the principal towns, 
and stopped for some time at Crema, to form 
a faction there by the means of a French 
lieutenant named Jean Merard, an Italian 


I 


AGAINST VENICE. 3-3 

captain, and a lieutenant, a native of Pro¬ 
vence, whom Don Pedro had already gained. 
These three men offered to conceal live hun¬ 
dred Spaniards in the town without exciting 
any suspicion in the Venetian commander, 
and to take possession of it eight days after. 
From the examination which Renault made 
of the affair on the spot, it appeared to him 
almost infallible with that number of men. 
They had only to put to the sword a wretched 
garrison which had been drawn from the mili¬ 
tia of the country, because all the regular 
troops of the republic were in the garrisons 
of Friuli, or with the armies. 

The Duke of Ossuna had also made the 
Marquis de Bedmar acknowledge that it was 
necessary to have some place of the Vene¬ 
tians on the Gulf, to succour the Uscoques 
and the archduke, and to serve for a retreat 
for the Spanish fleet, if it should from any 
accident be obliged to seek shelter when it 
was engaged in that sea. He at last chose 
Maran, a strong place in an island on the 
confines of Istria, and which has a port ca¬ 
pable of receiving a great fleet. An Italian 
named Mazza, who had been sergeant-ma- 


3 G SPANISH CONSPIRACY 

jor of this place forty years, had nearly as 
much authority as the governor. For a con¬ 
siderable sum, and an assurance that he 
should possess the government, this man 
promised an emissary of the Duke of Ossuna, 
that he would kill the governor at the first 
order, and make himself master of the place, 
to keep possession of it in the name of Spain. 
It was almost as easy for him to perform 
this promise as to make it; the governor, 
who was the proveditor, Lorenzo Tripoli, 
lived with him familiarly; and as the office 
of proveditor gave him much employment on 
this frontier in time of war, he depended en¬ 
tirely on the sergeant-major in every thing 
that regarded the interior of the place, as he 
was the oldest and most capable officer of 
the garrison. 

Affairs being in this state, the ambassador 
thought it time to put the finishing stroke to 
his work. It was not that he could not add 
manv things to the measures that he had 
taken, by delaying, but he knew that delay 
is fatal to such enterprises. It is impossible 
that all the means which might ensure success 
should be all in a serviceable state at the 


AGAINST VENICE. 


37 


same time, the first change while others are 
preparing; and when it once happens fortu¬ 
nately that a sufficient number are found to¬ 
gether, it is a capital error to let the fatal 
moment of such a rare conjunction pass by. 

It was of an extreme importance for the 
honour of Spain, that its ambassador should 
not be convicted of having had a part in this 
enterprise if it failed. With this view he 
resolved not to discover himself to any of the 
conspirators except Renault and the captain, 
these two men did not even know each other. 
They only came to his house when he sent 
for them, and he had always appointed dif¬ 
ferent hours, that they might not meet. If 
they were to be discovered, it would be much 
to his advantage that they should not have 
had any connexion. In this fear he wished 
to make them still act their parts as they had 
hitherto done, without knowing each other; 
but after having reflected deeply on this sub¬ 
ject, he judged that it was impossible, and, 
despairing in his heart of the success of his 
design if perfect union was not established 
between them, he resolved to take this step 
notwithstanding it appeared so difficult. 


38 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


Though these two men had both courage 
and prudence, Renault particularly prided 
himself on arranging affairs so well that the 
execution would be easy, and the success 
infallible. The captain, on the contrary, who 
was not so much advanced in years, valued 
himself upon being a man fit for action, and 
capable of great resolution. The marquis 
explained to him the different negotiations 
which Renault had carried on; praised his 
learning, which might furnish expedients for 
every occurrence; his eloquence and address 
in gaining partisans, his talent for writing, so 
necessary in a case where continual informa¬ 
tion of the state of the fleets, the provinces, 
and the armies, were important; he added, 
that he thought a man of this sort would be 
of great use to the captain; that he was an 
old man of very great experience, and was 
not deficient either in courage or conduct; 
but that his age and his profession of a stu¬ 
dent rather than a soldier rendered him in¬ 
capable of sharing the glory of the enterprise 
with the captain. 

To Renault he only said that the captain 
was a man belonging to the Duke of Ossuna, 



AGAINST VENICE. 


39 


and as this duke had the greatest part in their 
plan, nothing could be concealed from his 
confidant; he entreated him to condescend 
to the manners of the corsair, as he was so 
necessary to their designs, and to show him 
all the deference which could gain the mind 
of an active man, presumptuous and haughty 
in the highest degree. 

After the Marquis de Bedmar had laboured 
thus to dispose these two men to live in con¬ 
cord, his surprise was extreme when, the first 
time that they met at his house, he saw them 
embrace with the greatest tenderness as soon 
as they cast eyes on each other. There is 
no mind so strong that it does not form an 
unreasonable judgment at the first sight of 
things which surprise it exceedingly; the 
first thought of the ambassador was that he 
was betrayed. As he had persuaded him¬ 
self that these men were not known to each 
other, he could not understand why they had 
concealed their acquaintance. This mystery 
was soon explained. He was informed that 
they had met at the house of a famous Greek, 
a woman of extraordinary merit for a courte¬ 
san : this adventure was a proof of it; she had 




40 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


most faithfully kept the secret of their names, 
which they had desired her to conceal. This 
punctuality was the more admirable as she 
knew that they had a great esteem for each 
other. 

The ambassador, recovering from his sur¬ 
prise, was delighted to find the union which 
he had so much desired already formed. 
They confessed in the conversation which 
followed, that they had both formed the de¬ 
sign of engaging each other in the enterprise. 
As they were full of their plans, they some¬ 
times, in the conversation which they held 
together at the house .of the Greek woman, 
fell on subjects of the same nature, in speak¬ 
ing of the times, of the state, and the war. 
It had been without discovering themselves, 
and without the design of doing so, yet they 
acknowledged, in the presence of the ambas¬ 
sador, that the heat of argument had often 
carried them too far, as they had too often 
betrayed their sentiments. The ambassador 
invited them to profit by this reflection, to 
be more circumspect for the future, and to 
learn from this experience, that, to keep a 
great design really secret, it is not enough 


AGAINST VENICE. 


41 


not to do or say any thing which relates to 
it, but that it is also necessary to forget that 
you know it. 

Renault afterwards represented that, since 
the reports of a peace which had been re¬ 
newed towards the end of June, the Venetian 
officers had ill treated the foreign troops, and 
that as they were no longer restrained by the 
authority of the Count of Nassau, who died 
about that time, they had served ill before 
Gradisca; and the general of the republic, 
fearing they would act still worse, had se¬ 
parated and sent them to different posts, the 
most distant from each other that he could 
select: as this precaution made his distrust 
public, the troops mutinied, and having inso¬ 
lently refused to execute some orders of the 
senate, the general thought it his duty to ex¬ 
ecute the principal mutineers; he confined 
the chiefs at Padua, and distributed the rest 
in different places in Lombardy, until they 
could be paid, and the performance of the 
treaties should permit them to be dismissed. 

Renault added, that the lieutenant of the 
Count of Nassau, who was one of the prin¬ 
cipals with whom he had negotiated, had been 

E 2 


42 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


confined at Brescia; and that he had there 
formed an intrigue, by the means of which he 
could put the town into the hands of Don 
Pedro; and that it was necessary to decide 
immediately on this particular point, because 
the lieutenant in his letters pressed for an 
answer. The ambassador replied that nothing 
could be done in that quarter until they were 
in possession of Venice; that even then they 
would only have occasion for one place in 
Lombardy; that they could depend upon 
Crema, and that this new enterprise would 
only divide their forces; that they should 
nevertheless keep those who were gained 
over in their good dispositions, but the ex¬ 
ecution of the plan should be delayed on va¬ 
rious pretexts; but that rather than they 
should be exposed to make the slightest dis¬ 
covery, the intention should be entirely aban¬ 
doned. 

Renault replied, that besides this lieute¬ 
nant, he had negotiated with three French 
gentlemen, whose names were Durand, ser¬ 
geant-major in the regiment of Lievestein; 
de Brainville, and de Bribe; with a Savoy¬ 
ard named Ternon, who had been at the 


AGAINST VENICE. 


43 


seige of Geneva, with a Dutchman, named 
Theodore; with Robert Revellido, an Ita¬ 
lian engineer; and two others, who had 
formerly been employed in the arsenal, then 
named Louis de Villa Mezzana, a captain of 
light horse, and William Retrosi, a lieute¬ 
nant of Captain Honorat at Parma; that he 
had thought it necessary to open himself 
entirely to these nine persons, but from the 
manner in which they had been chosen he 
would answer for their fidelity ; that during 
his stay in the camp he had gained two 
hundred officers, but to them he had only 
said that they were to go to Venice to deli¬ 
ver the ambassador from the populace of 
that city when there should be occasion ; 
that since his return he had written to know 
the exact number of men he might depend 
upon, and that none should be proposed who 
were not perfectly sure ; he was informed that 
he might depend upon two thousand men at 
least of the troops of Lievestein; and two 
thousarkl three hundred of those of Nassau; 
and all the officers were ready to put them¬ 
selves into his hands as an assurance of their 
words; that from the beginning of this nego- 


44 SPANISH CONSPIRACY 

tiation they had flattered their soldiers with 
the hope of some expedition to which they 
would be led when they were dismissed by 
the republic, and which would amply repay 
them for all the misery they had suffered; 
it was not to be feared that the singularity of 
the enterprise would discourage them when 
it was declared, for they were so much irri¬ 
tated against the senate, on account of the ill 
treatment they had received, that, if they had 
no other motive, he would answer for it that 
they would do any thing to revenge them¬ 
selves ; that nevertheless the secret should 
not be imparted to them till things should be 
so disposed and so forward that it would be 
almost impossible to doubt of success; and 
that from the resolution which had been taken 
to give up Venice to them to plunder, there 
was not one who would hesitate to enrich 
himself by so sure and prompt a method, and 
to pass the rest of his life in affluence. 

From the first moment that the Marquis 
de Bedmar had planned his enterprise, he 
had resolved not to engage in it, unless he 
had many more means of success than were 
necessary; and unless those means were so 


AGAINST VENICE. 


45 


independent of each other that even if one 
should fail the others should still be service¬ 
able. In this intention he had taken mea¬ 
sures to obtain troops of the Duke of Ossuna, 
although he depended on what Don Pedro 
had promised, and on the negotiation of Re¬ 
nault with the Dutch commanders. He had 
negotiated with all these three parties with 
the same precautions as if he had no depen- 
dance on the two others, and needed them 
for different enterprises. 

It was now time to know precisely at what 
period the Duke of Ossuna could send to 
Venice the persons who were demanded of 
him. But as his mind was not steady enough 
for his word to be implicitly relied on in so 
difficult a case, it was necessary to dispatch 
some person to him who would be capable 
of judging on the spot if he would be able to 
fulfil his promises. The captain could not 
leave Venice without being suspected, Re¬ 
nault was indispensably necessary; and they 
fixed upon de Bribe, one of the French gen¬ 
tlemen with whom Renault had negotiated 
in Friuli, to make this voyage. But this 
gentleman having received a commission from 


46 SPANISH CONSPIRACY 

the republic to levy troops at the time he 
was preparing to depart, it was thought more 
proper that he should obey; and a Franc- 
Comtois, named Laurence Nolot, a comrade 
of the captain, took his place on the first day 
of the year 1618. 

The Marquis de Bedmar thought it now 
time to open himself to the council of Spain. 
To make at once all the explanations which 
might be demanded, he sent as circumstan¬ 
tial and extended a plan as he could make. 
And as he was acquainted with the slow 
deliberations of this court, he insisted on an 
immediate and decisive answer, in a private 
dispatch to the Duke of Lerma, and protested 
that the danger he was in gave him a right 
to express himself in this absolute manner; 
and that if they detained his courier more 
than eight days, he should look upon this 
delay as an order to abandon the enter¬ 
prise. 

He received an answer within the time 
that he had prescribed, but it was not so de¬ 
cisive as he wished. He was desired if there 
would be any disadvantage in delaying, to 
proceed; but if it could possibly be done, 


AGAINST VENICE. 


47 


the council ardently wished to have an am¬ 
ple and faithful account of the state of the 
republic. 

The ambassador, who was prepared on 
this subject, was not long in composing so 
fine a relation that the Spaniards have called 
it the masterpiece of their policy. The de¬ 
sign for which it was compiled does not ap¬ 
pear in it, nevertheless those who are ac¬ 
quainted with it will not find a word that 
does not relate to that design. He begins 
with an elegant complaint of the difficulty of 
the work, on account of the impenetrable 
secrecy of the government which is to be 
described. He then praises this govern¬ 
ment, but the praise falls rather on the first 
age of the republic than on its present state. 
He then continues in a mournful and ele¬ 
gant strain on the deplorable condition of 
human things, of which the most perfect are 
the most liable to corruption ; and thus the 
wisest laws of this state, from being abused, 
are the causes of its present deformity; that 
those laws, which entirely exclude the peo¬ 
ple from the knowledge of affairs, have given 
rise to the tyranny of the nobles; and that 




48 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


which makes the ecclesiastical power submit 
to the censure of the sovereign magistrate is 
the foundation of the insolence of the people 
towards the Holy See, since the quarrel of the 
republic with that court. He exaggerates this 
licence by the reports of the impieties which the 
Dutch committed in Friuli with impunity; he 
particularly inveighs against them for having 
interred a nobleman of their country, named 
Renaud de Brederode, in the church of the 
Servites, in Venice, although he was a Cal¬ 
vinist ; and he gravely charges Father Paul 
with this fact, without naming him, because 
he it was who had caused this boldness in 
the senate. He expresses surprise that the 
people, being no longer retained in obedience 
to the prince by religion which they had seen 
so often violated, could endure the terrible 
oppressions inflicted on them. He gives a 
circumstantial account of these oppressions, 
and does not exaggerate in making them 
appear insupportable. He then shows that 
the honour and blood of the people are as 
much at the discretion of the nobles as their 
property; and that, as the disposition of the 
nation tends to avarice, revenge, and love, it 


AGAINST VENICE. 


41) 

is not extraordinary that those who obey in a 
government of this nature should be op¬ 
pressed by those who command. Lastly, 
he examines the state of the senate, the pro¬ 
vinces, and the armies. In the senate he 
remarks divisions ; he does not dissemble in 
saying, that he knows many discontented 
nobles. He depicts the desolation of the 
provinces by the war which the Uscoques 
had carried into some, and by the others 
being exhausted in order to succour them; 
that there are not three officers on pay in all 
the garrisons of Lombardy; and that the 
republic only preserved its authority because 
there was no one to usurp it. As to the 
armies, he gave a faithful recital of the muti¬ 
nies which had occurred in that of the land, 
and that such a number of the rebels were 
dispersed, that the rest of the army might be 
looked upon as a collection of despicable 
militia, who had neither courage, experience, 
nor discipline; that of the sea had been for 
some time the asylum of all the most infa¬ 
mous corsairs of the Mediterranean ; people, 
unworthy of the name of soldiers, and of 
whose service the republic could only avail 

F 





60 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


itself while they were not strong enough to 
turn their arms against it. After having de¬ 
scribed these things with great beauty of lan¬ 
guage and force of expression, he examines 
what judgment ought to be formed of the 
future state of this republic, of its fortune 
and continuance; and shows, by the conse¬ 
quences which follow the facts he has esta¬ 
blished, that it is in its decrepitude, and that 
its maladies are of such a nature that it 
can neither have a crisis nor change its pre¬ 
sent constitution, unless its form is entirely 
altered. 

On this relation the council of Spain gave 
the Marquis de Bedmar liberty to act, yet 
without sending any orders. But Nolot, 
who did not return, retarded the execution of 
his plan, and the ambassador could not con¬ 
sole himself for the fault he had committed 
in exposing himself, in an affair of such a na¬ 
ture, to the caprice of the Duke of Ossuna, 
which he had been so long acquainted with. 
This delay was fatal in the present conjunc¬ 
tion of circumstances. After the Spaniards 
had taken Vercelli, Gradisca was extremely 
pressed by the Venetians, and the council 


AGAINST VENICE. 


51 


had no other means of saving it but by re¬ 
newing the proposals of peace. A schedule 
was prepared at Madrid, which contained 
the principal articles; but the continual dis¬ 
orders of the Duke of Ossuna compelled the 
Venetians to revoke the power of their am ¬ 
bassador, in order to transfer the negotiation 
to France, where the death of the Marshal 
d’ Ancre made them hope for more favour. 
The peace was concluded at Paris, on the 
6th September. 

The governor ot Milan had an interview 
some time after at Pavia, with the Count de 
Bethune, to arrange the completion of the 
peace as it respected the Duke of Savoy; 
but at the same time, the governor continued 
to disturb the Venetians, and even took 
several small places in Lombardy. They 
complained everywhere, and made more pre¬ 
parations for war than ever, until the Mar¬ 
quis de Bedmar made his complaints on the 
peace in the senate, and promised the execu¬ 
tion of the articles. He did not do this so 
much on account of the order he received 
from Spain as to efface the evil impressions 
made upon the senate by past events. In 


52 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


this view lie acquitted himself of this duty 
with every demonstration of joy and friend¬ 
ship, and the Venetians, wishing so much 
what he had promised, suffered themselves 
so far to be deceived by his words that they 
agreed to a suspension of arms. 

This suspension was a decisive throw for 
the Spaniards, and the masterpiece of their 
ambassador. Gradisca was so pressed that 
it could not hold out fifteen days. Never¬ 
theless, the hostilities were not to cease for 
two months, because this space of time was 
thought necessary to furnish all the ratifica¬ 
tions and dispose affairs for the fulfilment 
of the treaties. It was necessary to prevent 
this place from surrendering during this pe¬ 
riod, the suspension put it out of danger; and 
the Spaniards, no longer having this reason 
for pressing the execution of the treaties, were 
at full liberty to draw them out as long as 
their designs required. 

In fact, the Duke of Ossuna, forced by 
orders from Madrid, and the intreaties of the 
Pope, offered some time after to return the 
vessels which he had taken, but said he did 
not know what was become of the merchan- 


AGAINST VENICE. 


63 


dise. Nevertheless they were sold in Naples 
even in the sight of the Venetian resident, 
and he again sent a powerful fleet to cruise 
in the Adriatic. The senate remonstrated 
with the Marquis de Bedmar, he complained 
of it still more. He declared that he could 
not be responsible for the actions of the Duke 
of Ossuna, that the king their master would 
not answer for them, and that amidst the fa¬ 
vours and kindness which he had received at 
Venice during the time of his embassy the 
only mortification he had felt was that the 
conduct of the viceroy had been imputed to 
his advice; that he had never had any part 
in it, and those who knew the Duke of Os¬ 
suna would easily perceive that he had no 
guide but his caprice; and, that as to him¬ 
self, his dispositions might be judged of by 
the pacific conduct of the Governor of Milan, 
of which he might assume the merit of being 
the instigator. 

It was true, that the governor exactly ob¬ 
served the suspension, but he remained in 
arms, and that it might not be considered as 
extraordinary, he thought proper to quarrel 
again with the Duke of Savoy on pretence 


54 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


that the troops dismissed by that prince had 
stopped in the Pays de Vaud to wait the 
completion of the treaties. Don Pedro re¬ 
fused the Count de Bethune to disarm as he 
had promised to do at Pavia, and he obliged 
the Duke of Mantua also to refuse every 
thing that depended upon him. The Count 
de Bethune protested against them in a pro¬ 
clamation, and retired upon their refusal. 
They replied to this protestation in the most 
plausible terms which the Marquis de Bedmar 
could devise. 

It may easily be supposed from these cir¬ 
cumstances that it was important to hasten 
the conclusion of the enterprise, since it was 
so difficult to keep things in a proper state to 
ensure success. But the Duke of Ossuna 
did not send back Nolot; and, the ambassa¬ 
dor, who was quite in despair, having sent 
word to this man to reveal the cause what¬ 
ever might be the consequence; he was at 
last acquainted with it. 

A short time after the captain was received 
into the service of the republic, the duke, 
w ho wished to be informed of the state of 
Venice by different means, sent after him an 



AGAINST VENICE. 


5o 

Italian named Alexander Spinosa, as a spy, 
to observe every thing-. This man, who was 
not known, soon found employment like all 
the adventurers who asked for it. He be¬ 
lieved that the duke was plotting some im¬ 
portant enterprise, he did not suspect that the 
corsair w r as the conductor of this plot, but 
doubted that the captain was not on such bad 
terms with the duke as every one supposed. 
When Spinosa went to Venice he had offered 
to assassinate the corsair, but the duke refused 
this proposition on the pretext that it would 
be dangerous to attempt. Spinosa, who had 
talent, and who knew him, judged, that if he 
had not some more powerful motive for this 
refusal, the fear of causing the death of one 
man would not prevent him from revenging 
himself. Nevertheless, the duke charged him 
to w atch all the actions of the corsair, either 
to prevent Spinosa from suspecting the truth, 
or because he was one of those persons who 
never entirely confide in any one, or that he 
w ished to know if what Spinosa wrote of the 
captain accorded with what the captain wrote 
of himself. 

Spinosa, to successfully perform his com- 


56 SPANISH CONSPIRACY 

mission, became acquainted with several 
Frenchmen whom he had known at Naples, 
and who were intimate with the captain. 
These people, who were all conspirators, 
gave an exact account to the captain of all the 
inquiries Spinosa had made of his conduct; 
and they even discovered that this spy en¬ 
deavoured to form a plot on his side to en¬ 
gage some adventurers into the service of the 
Duke of Ossuna. 

The captain was very indignant that the 
duke had not an entire confidence in him, but 
he was not surprised at it, he only considered 
that if Spinosa continued to cabal without a 
mutual understanding, he would weaken their 
party by dividing it, and that it was impos¬ 
sible to discover their plans to a man who 
was employed as a spy upon them. 

The Marquis de Bedmar and Renault 
thought also that there was no time to lose 
in remedying this evil, and after having con¬ 
sulted together they found they could not be 
safe unless Spinosa was destroyed. 

He was a man who would sell his life 
dearly if assassination was attempted, his 
employment obliged him to be always on his 


AGAINST VENICE. 


57 

guard; and the captain was at last reduced 
to denounce him to the Council of Ten as a 
spy of the Duke of Ossuna, after having in 
vain tried all other means of dispatching him. 
The Frenchmen with whom he had become 
acquainted deposed so judiciously, and the 
evidence was so circumstantial that he was 
taken and secretly strangled the same day. 
All that he could advance against the cor¬ 
sair made no impression on the minds of the 
judges as it was against his accuser, and he 
could not prove any thing. 

This affair increased the confidence which 
the captain enjoyed at Venice, but it did not 
fail to afflict the Marquis de Bedmar, because 
it was a notice to the Venetians to observe 
the conduct of the strangers who were in their 
service. 

The Duke of Ossuna had just learned the 
death of Spinosa when Nolot arrived at Na¬ 
ples. He immediately guessed who was the 
cause of it. His displeasure made him take 
it ill of the Marquis de Bedmar not to apprise 
him of it; and the various suspicions which 
this accident raised in his mind rendered him 
uncertain what to decide upon. 


58 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


In the mean time the troops of Lievestein 
mutined again, and were brought by order of 
the senate to the Lazaretto two miles distant 
from Venice, in the beginning of the month 
of February. The Marquis de Bedmar, fear¬ 
ing that they would agree with the republic 
for their pay and then be obliged to depart, 
influenced them by means of their chiefs, and 
caused them to be discontented with the sum 
which was offered to them at first. The con¬ 
spirators, with the intention of profiting by 
the circumstance (so favourable to their de¬ 
sign) of the troops being in the neighbour¬ 
hood, charged Nolot by an express to repre¬ 
sent to the viceroy, that during all this month 
they would have nearly five thousand men 
devoted to them. Nolot did not neglect his 
duty; but the viceroy, who had not yet re¬ 
covered from his anger, trifled with him so 
long that after six weeks expectation the 
commanders, fearing that the soldiers who 
suffered much would enter into a treaty with¬ 
out them, concluded it themselves with the 
consent of the conspirators, who thought they 
could not prevent it. 

Ten days after Nolot arrived from Naples 




m 


AGAINST VENICE. 


59 


with the resolution of the Duke of Ossuna, 
such as they wished it to be, but addressed 
to Robert Brulard a comrade of the captain. 
The ambassador and the captain, who were 
anxious to finish the affair, disdained to pay 
any attention to the insult offered by the 
viceroy in this address. He informed him 
that he was ready to send when they wished, 
boats, brigantines, and other small vessels 
adapted to the ports and canals of Venice, 
sufficient in number for six thousand men if 
it was necessary. Nolot had seen the troops 
and vessels ready to sail, and the captain 
caused the canals through which they must 
pass, to land in the Place of St. Marc, to be 
sounded. For the nature of his office placed 
many seamen at his disposal who could go 
in and out of the canals and harbours with¬ 
out being suspected, it was therefore easy to 
procure their exact dimensions. 

Nothing was now wanting but to hinder 
the departure of the troops of Lievestein. 
They did not spare money to effect it, and 
the severity of the season served as a pretext 
for the delay. The greater number remained 
at the Lazaretto, and those which had em- 


60 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


* 


barked when Nolot arrived stopped in places 
not far distant. 

To relieve Renault and the captain from 
the important concerns with which they were 
overwhelmed, and which they could not en¬ 
tirely fulfil, they thought at least eighteen men 
necessary, who possessed courage and capa¬ 
city, and in whom they could confide. They 
composed this number of the nine with whom 
Renault had negotiated at Friuli, and of the 
principal of those w hom the captain had in¬ 
duced to follow him from Naples. These 
were five captains of vessels like himself; 
Vincent Robert, of Marseilles; Laurence, 
Nolot, and Robert Brulard, whose names have 
been already mentioned; these two last, with 
another Rrulard named Laurence, were na<- 
tives of Franche Comte, and a Provencal 
named Anthony Jaffier. There were also 

two brothers of Lorraine, Charles and John 

% 

Boleau ; an Italian, John Rizzardo, all three 
excellent petardiers ; and a Frenchman of the 
name of Langlade, who passed for the best 
maker of fireworks existing. The ability of 
Langlade was so well known that he imme¬ 
diately obtained employment in the arsenal. 


* 


AGAINST VENICE. 


61 


By this means the petardiers his companions 
had free admittance as well as two men called 
Vila Mezzana and Retrozi, who were of the 
number that Renault had engaged, and who 
had formerly been employed there. 

These six persons together drew so exact 
a plan of the arsenal that those who had 
never been there could deliberate upon it as 
well as those who had made the plan. They 
were greatly assisted by two officers of the 
arsenal whom the captain had gained over. 
They appeared discontented with their em¬ 
ployment, endued with qualities proper for 
his design, capable of engaging in it if it was 
for their interest, and of performing faithfully 
all that they might promise. The event an¬ 
swered to the opinion he had formed. He 
accompanied the praises he bestowed on them 
on all occasions with so great a number of 
Spanish pistoles which he had to distribute 
that they promised blindly to perform any 
thing he should command them to do. 

Langlade and the two officers lodged in 
the arsenal; Renault took with him to the 
Ambassador of France three of his friends, 
Bribe, Brainville, and Laurence Brulard. The 

G 



62 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


three petardiers lived with the Marquis de 
Bedmar, who supplied them with powder and 
other instruments and materials necessary for 
their employment, but without having any 
communication with them. They had already 
made more petards and fireworks than were 
necessary, and the palace of the ambassador 
was so full of them that it would not hold 
another person. The captain remained in his 
own house, but alone, that he might give no 
cause for suspicion in case he was observed, 
the rest were lodged in the house of the cour¬ 
tezan where Renault and himself had become 
acquainted. The esteem and friendship which 
had succeeded the love they had felt for this 
woman, and still more the knowledge they. 
possessed of her adventures induced them 
to think that they could not have selected a 
better residence. 

This woman came from an island in the 
Archipelago, and was of as noble a condition 
as any one can be in the dominions of the 
republic who is not a Venetian. The person 
who governed in the name of the republic, 
having seduced her with great promises, had 
caused her father to be assassinated because 


AGAINST VENICE. 


63 


he wished to oblige the Venetian to fulfil 
them. The daughter went to Venice to de¬ 
mand justice for this murder, but it was in 
vain; and this proceeding having exhausted 
the little property which she possessed, her 
beauty repaired her misery, as it had caused 
it. There is no resentment so violent as that 
of a virtuous woman of good family reduced 
to an unworthy mode of life. She learned 
with transport the project of her two friends, 
and without hesitation risked every thing to 
forward it. She hired one of the largest 
houses in Venice, and on pretence of making 
alterations she only conveyed to it part of 
her furniture, that she might keep the house 
she formerly inhabited and which was not 
far off. 

It was in these two houses that eleven of 
the principal conspirators dwelt for nearly six 
months. As she was visited by all people of 
respectability whether strangers or Venetians, 
she pretended to be indisposed to free herself 
from them. Those who know with what 
courtesy women of this profession are treated 
in Italy will easily suppose that by this 
means her house became impenetrable to all 


64 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


who did not belong to it. The conspirators 
went out of it only in the night; so that she 
might be at perfect liberty, and there held 
meetings during the day. 

In these assemblies Iienault and the cap¬ 
tain proposed those things which had been 
agreed on with the Marquis de Bedmar, to ob¬ 
tain the advice of the conspirators, and to re¬ 
solve on the means of executing them. When 
it was necessary for them to go to the mar¬ 
quis they conducted themselves with the cir¬ 
cumspection which was necessary in a coun¬ 
try where the houses of the ambassadors were 
watched as if they had been those of enemies, 
and particularly that of the marquis. They 
had long determined to have a thousand sol¬ 
diers in Venice before the execution of the 
enterprise, but, as it would be dangerous for 
them all to enter armed, the Marquis de Bed- 
mar was provided with arms for five hundred. 
It was easy for him to do this secretly; for 
the gondolas of ambassadors are not exa¬ 
mined whatever place they may come from, 
and now the opportunity alone was wanting 
to bring into Venice the thousand men with¬ 
out their being remarked. 


AGAINST VENICE. 


65 


The Doge Donato died, and Anthony Pri- 
uli, who was in Friuli superintending the fulfil¬ 
ment of the treaties, was elected in his stead. 
The General of the Sea received orders to 
escort him with the naval army. The great 
Chancellor and Secretaries of State were to 
go out to meet him with the Ducal Cap. 
Twelve of the principal senators were to fol¬ 
low them as Ambassadors of the Republic, 
each of them in an armed brigantine superbly 
adorned, and with a magnificent train. The 
senate itself in a body were to go out to sea 
in the Bucentaur to bring him back to the 
city with this retinue. 

As it rarely happens that the person made 
a doge is out of Venice, this pomp drew toge¬ 
ther a great number of spectators. The Mar¬ 
quis de Bedmar, who foresaw this as soon 
as he had ascertained the election of Priuli, 
dispatched Nolot a second time to Naples 
with an order to urge the sailing of the bri¬ 
gantines of the Duke of Ossuna with the 
greatest expedition, and to see them set sail. 
To prevent any cause for delay the captain 
was commissioned to send to the duke the 
most exact plan of the execution that he could 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


r>6 

make, and above all, to give him an account 
of every thing that had passed in Venice 
during the first voyage of Nolot. The corsair 
improved on this precaution; he wished to 
consult the disposition of the viceroy in every 
thing, and to show him that they thought they 
had no cause of complaint against him he 
finished his dispatch with these words: “ I 
accuse Nolot of negligence for the long stay 
he made at Naples, for T do not doubt that if 
he had represented things as they were, your 
excellency would have sent him back. He 
certainly must have demanded money or some¬ 
thing of that kind, but he had orders to the 
contrary; and I offer at this moment to hold 
Venice in my power for six months waiting 
for the great fleet, provided that your excel¬ 
lency will send the brigantines and six thou¬ 
sand men when Nolot arrives.” This letter 
is dated the 7th of April, the day on which 
Nolot departed. 

In the mean time Renault caused all the 
officers of the troops he had engaged to come 
to Venice in order to know the town, and 
remark the posts, that they might not lose 
themselves during the night on which the en- 





AGAINST VENICE. 


67 


terprise was to be executed. Before they 
went, they chose a thousand men out of the 
Dutch troops to keep themselves in readiness 
to march on the first orders; and that the 
absence of these men might be less remarked 
they took them equally from all those places in 
the dominions where they had been dispersed. 
To receive all these people each of the officers 
hired as many lodgings as he could without 
exciting suspicion, they told the landlords 
that they were for strangers who would come 
to see the festival; as to the officers they 
lodged at the houses of the courtezans, where, 
by paying well, they were in greater security 
than elsewhere. 

It now only remained to arrange the order 
of the execution, and the Marquis de Bed- 
mar, Renault, and the captain concerted to¬ 
gether what follows : 

“ As soon as it is night those of the thou¬ 
sand men who come without arms shall go 
and arm themselves at the house of the Mar¬ 
quis de Bedmar. Five hundred shall repair 
to the Square of St. Mark to the captain; the 
greatest number of the other five hundred shall 
march and join Renault in the neighbourhood 


G8 SPANISH CONSPIRACY 

of the arsenal; and the rest shall seize the 
boats and gondolas at the Rialto with which 
they shall hasten to fetch about a thousand 
more troops of Lievestein who remained at 
the Lazaretto. During this voyage they shall 
conduct themselves in the most peaceable 
manner, that they may not be obliged to de¬ 
clare themselves until the troops arrive. 

“ Nevertheless, if they are obliged to do so, 
and if any thing is discovered, the captain 
shall entrench in the Square of St. Mark, 
Renault shall seize the arsenal as shall be 
directed. After this two cannon shall be 
tired as a signal to the brigantines of the 
Duke of Ossuna, which will be ready to en¬ 
ter Venice, and the Spaniards whom they 
bring will supply the place of the Dutch. 

“ If they are obliged to declare themselves 
during the voyage, when the Dutch are 
landed in the Square of St. Mark, the cap¬ 
tain shall take five hundred of them with the 
five hundred which he will have, and the 
Sergeant Major Durand to command them. 
They shall begin by putting the thousand men 
in order of battle; afterwards, the captain 
with two hundred men shall make himself 


AGAINST VENICE. 


GO 


master of the Ducal Palace, and particularly 
of the armoury belonging to it, in order to fur¬ 
nish those of his men with arms who shall be 
in want of them, and to prevent the enemy 
from using them. A hundred others under De 
Bribe shall take possession of the “ Secque,” 
and a hundred others under Brainville of the 
“ Procuratie,” by the means of a few men who 
shall be introduced into the belfry by strata¬ 
gem during the day. These hundred men 
shall remain in a body in the belfry in order 
to prevent the tocsin from being sounded. 
The entrances of all the streets which lead to 
the square shall be occupied by other bodies 
of men. Artillery shall be placed at these 
entrances, pointing down the streets ; and 
until it can be procured from the arsenal, it 
shall be taken from the foists * of the Council 
of Ten, which are near, and will not be diffi¬ 
cult to seize. In all these places which must 
be taken, bodies of men must be placed, who 
shall massacre indiscriminately all who are 
found there; and during these different exe¬ 
cutions round the square, the sergeant major 


A species of galley. 


70 SPANISH CONSPIRACY 

shall remain in order of battle in the centre 
with the rest of the troops. All these things 
must be done with the least possible noise. 

“ After this they shall begin to declare 
themselves by bombarding the gate of the 
arsenal; at this sound, the eight conspirators 
who drew up the plan of that place, and who 
will be within, shall set fire to the four cor¬ 
ners with fireworks prepared for that purpose 
at the house of the ambassador, and they 
shall massacre all the principal commandants. 
It will be easy for them to do this in the 
confusion which the fire and the noise of the 
petards will occasion, particularly as the 
commanders do not suspect them. They 
shall afterwards join Renault; when he en¬ 
ters, they shall together kill all who are 
within; and the soldiers shall carry artillery 
to all the places where it will be most proper 
to be stationed : such as the Arena de Mari, 
the Fontego de Tedeschi, the magazines of 
salt, on the belfry of the (Procuratie), on the 
Rialto, and other important posts from which 
the city may be battered to ruins in case of 
resistance. 

“ At the time when Renault bombards the 


AGAINST VENICE. 


71 


arsenal the captain shall break open the pri¬ 
son of St. Mark, and shall arm the prisoners. 
The principal senators shall be killed, and 
appointed people shall set fire to the city in 
more than forty different places distant from 
each other, in order to create greater con¬ 
fusion. 

“ In the mean time, the Spanish troops of 
the Duke of Ossuna, on hearing the signal 
which shall be made when the arsenal is 
taken, shall land in the Square of St. Mark, 
and shall be dispersed in the principal quar¬ 
ters of the town, as that of St. George, the 
Jews, and others, conducted by nine of the 
principal conspirators. 

“ Their cry shall be nothing but ‘Liberty,’ 
and after all this is executed pillage shall be 
permitted, but not on the strangers. Nothing 
shall be taken from them on pain of death; 
and none but those who make resistance shall 
be killed.” 

Nolot found every thing in such good or¬ 
der when he arrived at Naples that the six 
thousand men sailed the next day under the 
command of an Englishman named Elliot. 
In order to occasion less suspicion, the Duke 


72 SPANISH CONSPIRACY 

of Ossuna made his large vessels take a 
longer way to arrive at their posts, but he 
sent Elliot and the brigantines by the shortest. 
On the second day’s sail this little fleet en¬ 
countered some Corsairs from Barbary, who 
attacked them. As it was only equipped to 
serve as a conveyance for the men on board, 
and not to give battle, they were at first much 
inconvenienced by the artillery of the pirates, 
whose brigantines were better armed and 
more manageable, but as they were all Spa¬ 
niards and chosen men, they treated those of 
the enemy with whom they could grapple so 
roughly with their swords that these barba¬ 
rians would perhaps have repented that they 
had arrested their progress, if they had not 
all been dispersed by a furious tempest which 
separated them in the heat of the combat. 
The little fleet was so much damaged by it 
that it could not put to sea again for some 
time. 

The Marquis de Bedmar perceiving from 
this news that he could not disturb the fete 
which was preparing at Venice, attended at 
it with greater magnificence than any other 
person. He protested in the senate, in mak- 


AGAINST VENICE. 


7:* 


ing his compliments to the new doge, that 
the particular joy which he manifested at his 
elevation arose from his hope, that his serene 
highness would preserve on the throne the 
favourable dispositions which he had shown 
in Fruili for the completion of the peace. 

After this audience he sent for Renault 
and the captain. He asked them if they 
thought it proper to abandon the enterprise. 
They replied, that not only they were of a 
contrary opinion, but their companions had 
been no more moved at the ill luck of the 
fleet than if it had arrived safe in port, and 
that they were all disposed to take the ne¬ 
cessary means to maintain the party in the 
same state, and to wait for a more favourable 
opportunity. The ambassador, who asked this 
question Avith apprehension, at this reply, em¬ 
braced them with tears of joy. He said to 
them, with a gaiety and earnestness which 
would have encouraged the weakest and in¬ 
spired the most cowardly with intrepidity, 
“ that those great reverses which in common 
occurrences cause surprise are natural acci¬ 
dents in extraordinary enterprises; that they 
alone can be proofs of strength of mind ; that 

H 





74 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


it is only when one has seen with constancy 
and tranquillity a great enterprise once over¬ 
thrown, that one considers oneself capable of 
concluding it.” 

It was at last resolved between the mar¬ 
quis and his two confidants, that the execu¬ 
tion should be deferred till Ascension Day, 
which was not distant, and was the most 
solemn festival celebrated at Venice; that 
until that period the troops should remain in 
the places where they then were, and should 
be furnished with every convenience which 
they might wish for; that money should be 
given to the chiefs for this purpose; that the 
principal officers of the three hundred who 
had come to Venice should be detained as 
hostages for the fidelity of the others, and 
that the subalterns should return to their 
troops both to keep the soldiers in their duty 
and because too great a number of officers in 
the town would cause suspicion; that those 
who remained should be occupied in the 
most agreeable manner that they might not 
be weary of the delay, and to prevent them, 
if possible, from having time to reflect on 
the present state of affairs; that the twenty 


AGAINST VENICE. 


75 

principal conspirators should be particularly 
watchful of their conduct; and that, to oblige 
the republic to suffer the delay of the troops 
of Lievestein, the Governor of Milan and 
the Viceroy of Naples should not conclude 
the treaties. 

All the excuses that human ingenuity could 
imagine to defend itself from reason were de¬ 
vised by the Marquis de Bedmar, and put in 
practice by Don Pedro and the Duke of Os- 
suna. Nevertheless, they were forced to 
make several steps towards peace every day; 
the Council of Spain dared not run any risk 
on the hope of a success so doubtful as that 
of the conspiracy; and France, who main¬ 
tained the Treaty of Paris, obliged the Ve¬ 
netians to consent that the Duke of Savoy 
should disband the troops which had stopped 
in the Pays de Vaud, and which served as a 
pretext for the delays of Don Pedro. This 
difficulty removed, the Marquis de Bedmar, 
thinking to deter this prince from giving up 
the places which he had taken in Montferrat, 
raised a report that, as soon as the Duke of 
Mantua should be reinstated in them, he 
would make peace with Spain. 



76 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


At the same time, Don Pedro quarrelled 
without reason with a minister of Savoy, who 
came to Milan with the Ambassadors of 
France, and ordered him to depart. The 
duke, irritated at this insult, recalled him, 
and ceased to evacuate the places which he 
occupied; but the ambassadors having made 
him understand that he was going into the 
snare which Don Pedro had laid for him, he 
suddenly gave up all the places which he had 
taken. The astonishment of Don Pedro was 
so great at this news that he could not help 
showing it in public by his discourse. He 
was obliged to return the prisoners and the 
lesser places, but as to Vercelli, which was 
the most important, he made such strange 
difficulties that he was threatened from Spain 
that he should be recalled before the ordinary 
time had expired. At first he said that it 
was disgraceful for him to give up this place 
while the Ambassadors of France were at 
Milan, as if to force him to it. They retired. 
Then he declared, that he pretended that the 
Duke of Savoy should first give up certain 
estates which belonged to some ministers of 
Mantua. These were given up, but Vercelli 


AGAINST VENICE. 


77 


was not. At last, France, wishing to con¬ 
clude the marriage of Madame Christiana, 
the king’s sister, with the Prince of Pied¬ 
mont, made use of such decisive terms on 
the subject that Don Pedro began to remove 
the ammunition and artillery, but with in¬ 
credible delay. The Marquis de Bedmar 
having desired him to be still more dilatory, 
he thought of exacting fresh assurances of 
the Duke of Savoy in favour of Mantua; but 
the ministers of Mantua, wearied out by these 
delays, declared in a proclamation that they 
did not wish for these assurances. 

Whatever disappointment the Marquis de 
Bedmar might feel at this declaration, the 
conduct of the Duke of Ossuna gave him still 
more. The duke, fatigued by the complaints 
which the Venetians made on every side, on 
account of his continuing to disturb the navi¬ 
gation of the gulf, and not knowing what to 
say in his defence, at last replied, that he 
should continue to do so while the Venetians 
retained in their service the most irreconcile- 
able enemies of the king his master. The 
despair of the Marquis de Bedmar when he 
learned the reply of the Duke of Ossuna 

H 2 


78 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


may be easily conceived from the pains which 
he had taken to retain the Dutch troops of 
whom that duke complained. He did not 
doubt that the senate, who wished to obtain 
peace at any price, would send them away 
that the viceroy might have no excuse; but 
success again deceived the prudence of the 
Marquis de Bedmar. 

Some demon, favourable to the extrava¬ 
gances of the Duke of Ossuna, made the 
Venetians take a resolution exactly contrary 
to their interest and inclination. It was re¬ 
presented to the senate that the republic had 
shown by its proceedings that it desired 
peace too much, and that this was the rea¬ 
son why the Spanish ministers were so un¬ 
willing to conclude it; that, if the viceroy was 
satisfied, he would think that he might give 
laws to Venice, and that so far from dismiss¬ 
ing the Dutch, the troops of Lievestein which 
were to depart immediately ought to be de¬ 
tained until the treaties were concluded. 

The joy which this resolution gave to the 
Marquis de Bedmar was troubled by the dis¬ 
covery of the conspiracy at Cr6ma. L’Alfier, 
a Provencal, and the Italian captain who had 


AGAINST VENICE. 


79 


been engaged in it, had quarrelled at play 
and fought; the captain was mortally wound¬ 
ed, and to relieve his conscience he disco¬ 
vered every thing to the Venetian commander 
before he expired. L’Alfier, who guessed 
what would happen, as soon as he had 
wounded the captain, fled with those of his 
accomplices whom he could warn of the dan¬ 
ger ; the others were taken, and also the 
French lieutenant who was the chief of the 
conspirators; but as Renault had only made 
himself known to them as an agent from 
Milan, and they did not know what became 
of him afterwards, the whole affair fell on 
Don Pedro alone. 

Eight days after, the sergeant major, who 
was to deliver up Maran, having retrenched 
some perquisites of a valet-de-chambre, of an 
overseer, and of a pensionary of the republic, 
in order to profit by it; these people, enraged 
at the loss, took advantage of his absence to 
enter his house and carry off his money and 
his papers. Letters were found among them 
which spoke of his designs. As he only 
knew the agent of the Duke of Ossuna who 
had negotiated with him, he could only ac- 


80 


STANISH CONSPIRACY 


cuse that duke; but he took a nobler part, 
he declared in the midst of his tortures that 
he knew he should not be spared whatever 
he might reveal, and that he had rather leave 
his accomplices, if he had any, in a state to 
avenge his death than involve them in his 
ruin, without gaining any advantage by it. 
Public thanksgivings were offered up to God 
for these two discoveries. The plan of the 
marquis, nevertheless, became more secure 
than it was before. The senate thought they 
had at last discovered the cause of the irre¬ 
gular conduct of the Spaniards, which had so 
long been concealed, and seeing both these 
affairs at an end, they thought they should 
now enjoy a profound tranquillity, and no 
longer doubted that the treaties would be 
completed. 

Tn the meanwhile the time of the execution 
drew near. From the Sunday which pre¬ 
cedes Ascension Day till Pentecost, one of 
the most celebrated fairs in the world is held 
in Venice. The great number of merchants 
who attended it did not make the city more 
difficult to surprise, and enabled the thousand 
soldiers, who entered with them, to obtain 


AGAINST VENICE. 


81 


lodgings without being remarked. It was 
easy lor them to leave the Venetian towns in 
which they were dispersed, because the most 
impatient to return to their homes disbanded 
of themselves, and the Podestates* did not 
prevent them, because it made so many less 
people for the republic to pay. That no sur¬ 
prise might be occasioned by so great a num¬ 
ber being disbanded in so short a space of 
time, the greater number said they were go¬ 
ing to the fair at Venice. They disguised 
themselves as people of various professions. 
Care was taken to lodge together those who 
spoke different languages that they might not 
be suspected of having any communication, 
and they all appeared not to know one an¬ 
other. 

The live hundred Spaniards, who were 
destined to second the conspiracy at Crema, 
which was discovered, were sent at the same 
time by Don Pedro to the environs of Bres¬ 
cia, in order to seize that place at the first 
notice of the success of the conspiracy at 
Venice, and under favour of the faction 
which the lieutenant of the Count of Nassau 


* A superior officer of police. 




82 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


had formed there, which still existed. The 
commander of this troop received orders to 
lead them straight to Venice at the first no¬ 
tice from Renault. 

The Venetian fleet had retired to the coasts 
of Dalmatia, but was kept in a state to put 
to sea at the first orders, on account of the 
continual movements of the Duke of Ossuna. 
The captain sent to the officers who com¬ 
manded his twelve vessels in his absence, 
the most violent fireworks to be secretly dis¬ 
persed among all the other vessels of the 
fleet the night before the execution. As no 
one suspected these officers, it was easy for 
them to do this without being perceived. He 
commanded them to place the matches in 
such a way, that all should take fire, if pos¬ 
sible, at the same time; that if any vessels 
should escape they should attack them, and 
either sink or take them, that they should 
then immediately come to Venice, and that 
they should prepare to do all these things 
directly, but wait for fresh orders before they 
began to perform them. The day fixed was 
the Sunday before Ascension Day, which 
was the first of the fair. 


AGAINST VENICE. 


83 

The Duke of Ossuna caused his little fleet 
to be so well escorted the second time that it 
arrived six miles from Venice without any 
accident. It had separated into two parts 
which sailed at some distance from each 
other in order to be less remarked. The 
greatest part of it was composed of boats 
which resembled those of fishermen to avoid 
suspicion, and the rest of brigantines like 
those of tho Corsairs. On the Saturday 
morning, an order was sent to Elliot to leave 
his station the next day at an hour which 
would allow him to reach Venice at twilight; 
to hoist the standard of St. Mark; that he 
should take several little islands which he 
would pass, and which had no defence, and 
from whence he could send notice to Venice of 
his progress; that he should afterwards pre¬ 
sent himself boldly before the castles of Lido 
and Malamoco, because it was well known 
that there was no garrison in either, and that 
he could pass between them without any 
obstacle; that he should advance within 
cannon shot of Venice; that he should give 
notice when he arrived there; and that by 
the return of the boat which would bring 


84 SPANISH CONSPIRACY 

the account, the captain would send back 
sailors to serve as guides, that he might not 
strike against the banks of which the sea 
round Venice is full, or on the rocks which 

r the 

ports who are not accustomed to them. 

As the whole of the next day would be 
necessary to arrange the execution of the 
plan, during the night, Renault and the cap¬ 
tain judged it proper to consult their compa¬ 
nions for the last time, and the captain left 
to Renault the task of representing the state 
of things, and of giving the necessary direc¬ 
tions. But it was impossible for them all to 
assemble until it was nearly night. There 
were the three Frenchmen who lodged with 
Renault, the lieutenant of the Count de 
Nassau, the three petardiers, Langlade, the 
two officers of the arsenal, the captain and 
lieutenant who had formerly been employed 
there, Nolot, the two Brulards, Jaffier, Ro¬ 
bert, the Dutchman Theodore, the Savoyard 
who had been at the siege of Geneva, and 
the engineer Revellido. These twenty per¬ 
sons, with Renault and the captain, were as¬ 
sembled in the most retired part of the house 


render it impossible for those to en 


AGAINST VENICE. 


85 


of the Greek courtesan; after the ordinary pre¬ 
cautions at such meetings, Renault spoke. 

He began by a simple and extended nar¬ 
ration of the present state of affairs, of the 
strength of the republic, and of their own, of 
the disposition of the town and the fleet, the 
preparations of Don Pedro and the Duke of 
Ossuna, of the arms and other military stores 
which were at the house of the Ambassador 
of Spain, of his connexions in the senate and 
among the nobles, and of the exact informa¬ 
tion which had been obtained of every thing 
which it was necessary to know. After 
having gained the approbation of his auditors 
by the recital of these things, the truth of 
which they knew as well as himself, and 
which were as much the result of their care 
as of his own, he continued in these words: 

“ Such, my companions, are the means 
provided to lead you to the glory which you 
seek. Each of you may judge if they are 
sufficient and secure. We have certain means 
of introducing ten thousand soldiers into a 
city which does not contain two hundred to 
oppose them, the hope of plunder will cause 
all the strangers whom curiosity and com- 

I 


\ 




86 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


merce have drawn together, to join our party, 
and the people will aid us to pillage the no¬ 
bles, who have so often stripped them, when 
they find they can do it with safety. The 
best vessels in the fleet are ours, and the 
others at this moment carry within them that 
which will reduce them to ashes; the arse¬ 
nal, the celebrated arsenal, the wonder of 
Europe, and the terror of Asia, is almost in 
our power; the nine brave men now present, 
who have held themselves in readiness to 
take possession of it nearly six months, have 
taken their measures so well during this de¬ 
lay, that they consider it nothing to stake 
their lives upon their success. Even if we 
had neither the troops at the Lazaretto, nor 
those on land, nor the little fleet of Elliot to 
support us, nor the five hundred men of Don 
Pedro, nor the twenty Venetian vessels of 
our comrade, nor the large vessels of the 
Duke of Ossuna, nor the Spanish army of 
Lombardy, we should be strong enough with 
the connexions, and the thousand soldiers 
which we possess. Nevertheless, all these 
different supplies which I have named are 
disposed in such a way that one may fail 


AGAINST VENICE. 


87 


without affecting the others: they may easily 
support, but they cannot prejudice one ano¬ 
ther. It is almost impossible that they 
should not all succeed; and one alone will 
be sufficient. 

“ If, after having taken all the precautions 
which human prudence can suggest, we may 
judge of the success which fortune destines 
to us, what marks of her favour can we ob¬ 
tain which are above what we have already 
received? Yes, my friends, they are evi¬ 
dently miraculous ! It is unheard of in his¬ 
tory that an enterprise of this nature should 
have been partly discovered without being 
entirely ruined; ours has sustained five acci¬ 
dents, of which the least, according to human 
foresight, was sufficient to destroy it. Who 
would not have thought that the discovery 
of Spinosa, who plotted the same thing that 
we did, would have been the cause of ours 
also; that the dismissal of the troops of 
Lievestein, which were devoted to us, would 
not divulge what we kept secret; that the 
dispersion of the little fleet would not break 
off all our measures, and be a fertile source 
of new inconveniences; that the discovery 




88 SPANISH CONSPIRACY 

at Cr£ma, and that at Maran, would not ne¬ 
cessarily occasion the discovery of all the 
parties concerned? Nevertheless, all these 
things have had no consequences; no one 
could follow the traces which would have 
led them to us, no one has profited by the 
hint which they gave. Never did so pro¬ 
found a tranquillity precede so great a dis¬ 
turbance. The senate, we are perfectly as¬ 
sured of it, the senate is in the greatest 
security. Our good destiny has blinded the 
most clear-sighted, encouraged the most 
timid, deceived the most suspicious, and 
confounded the most subtle. We still live, 
my friends, we are more powerful than we 
were before these disasters; they have only 
to prove our resolution. We live ! and our 
lives will soon be fatal to the tyrants of this 
city. 

“ Can such constant, such extraordinary 
prosperity be natural, and have we not reason 
to suppose that it is the work of some power 
more than human ? And indeed, my friends, 
what is there on earth worthy of the protec¬ 
tion of Heaven if what we are doing is not? 
We are destroying the most horrible of go- 


AGAINST VENICE. 


89 


vernments : we are restoring to the poor sub¬ 
jects of this state the property which the 
avarice of the nobles will take from them for 
ever; we are saving the honour of all the 
females who will one day be born with suffi¬ 
cient charms to attract them; we are pre¬ 
serving the lives of an infinite number of 
wretches who are liable to be sacrificed to 
their resentment on the slightest grounds ; 
in short, we are punishing the most guilty of 
men, who are stained with vices which nature 
abhors. 

“ Then do not let us fear to take the 
sword in one hand and the torch in the other, 
to exterminate these wretches. And when 
we see these palaces, which are the thrones 
of impiety, burning rather with the fire of 
Heaven than with ours! these tribunals so 
often sullied with the tears of innocence con¬ 
sumed by devouring flames ! when we see 
the furious soldier withdrawing his reeking 
hands from the bosom of the guilty; death 
on all sides; and all that night and military 
license can produce to render the scene more 
horrible ! let us then, my friends, remember 
that there is nothing pure in man; that the 


90 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


most praiseworthy actions are subject to the 
greatest inconsistency ; and finally, that the 
disorders of the approaching night are the 
only means of making peace, innocence, and 
liberty prevail, instead of the various and 
dreadful excesses which desolate this un¬ 
happy state.” 

This discourse was received by the assem¬ 
bly with that complaisance which men com¬ 
monly feel for sentiments which accord with 
their own. Nevertheless, Renault, who had 
observed all their countenances, remarked 
that Jaffier, one of the best friends of the 
captain, had suddenly passed from an ex¬ 
treme attention to an uneasiness which he in 
vain endeavoured to conceal; and that he 
still had an air of astonishment and sorrow 
which showed a mind struck with horror. 
Renault remarked this to the captain, who 
at first laughed at it, but having observed 
Jalfierfor some time he became almost of the 
same opinion. Renault, who was perfectly 
acquainted with the relations and necessary 
connections between the most secret emo¬ 
tions of the soul and the slight external de¬ 
monstrations which escape in any agitation 


AGAINST VENICE. 


1)1 


of the mind; having maturely reflected on 
what the air and countenance of Jaflier 
seemed to indicate, declared to the captain 
that he did not think that man to be de¬ 
pended on. 

The captain, who knew Jaflier to be a va¬ 
liant man, accused him of deciding with pre¬ 
cipitation and violence; but Renault, perse¬ 
vering in justifying his suspicions, explained 
the reasons and consequences of them so 
clearly, that if the captain did not feel them 
to the same extent, he understood that Jaflier 
was a man whom it was necessary to watch. 
He nevertheless represented to Renault, that 
even if Jaflier was irresolute, which he could 
not believe, there did not remain time enough 
till the next evening for him to reflect and 
resolve to betray them; but at all events, in 
the present state of things, it was no longer 
time to take other measures, and that it was 
a risk which must be incurred. Renault re¬ 
plied, that there was a sure means of pre¬ 
venting it, which was to stab Jaflier them¬ 
selves that evening. The captain remained 
sometime silent at this proposal, but at last 
he replied, that he could not resolve to mur- 


92 SPANISH CONSPIRACY 

/ 

der his best friend on a suspicion; that this 
assassination would have many bad conse¬ 
quences ; that he feared it would terrify their 
companions ; render them odious, and appear 
as if they wished to affect an empire over 
them, and have a sovereign power over their 
lives; that it was impossible to hope that 
their companions would see the necessity of 
making away with Jaffier as they did; and 
not understanding it, each conspirator would 
think his life exposed to the same danger at 
the first similar suspicion they might have ; 
that when the mind is much excited, a slight 
cause will make it change its object, and the 
slightest change in such a state is of the 
greatest importance, because it can only in¬ 
spire violent resolutions ; that if they endea¬ 
voured to conceal the manner in which Jaffier 
had disappeared, it was to be feared that 
they would not believe but that he was dis¬ 
covered and fled, a prisoner or a traitor; and 
that whatever excuse they might invent, his 
absence on the night of the execution, when 
he would have a principal part to act, could 
only intimidate them, and suggest melan¬ 
choly thoughts. 


AGAINST VENICE. 


93 


Renault was attentively listening to this 
discourse of the captain, when one of their 
people entered with an order from the se¬ 
nate, which they had just received, that all 
those who had employment in the fleet should 
embark the next morning. A note from the 
ambassador was brought at the same time, 
which explained the cause of this order. 
The Duke of Ossuna had not been able to 
leave Naples to join his large vessels so se¬ 
cretly that the spies of the republic were not 
informed of it: but as he had left an order 
that no vehicle should be allowed to go to 
Venice for a certain time, and that all the 
letters which were addressed to that city 
should be detained, the Venetians had not 
received intelligence of his departure until 
then. The archduke, lately elected King of 
Bohemia, had requested his assistance against 
the rebels of that country, which was begin¬ 
ning to be disturbed ; and the viceroy having 
boasted that he would convey his supplies up 
the Adriatic to the ports of the archduke in 
Istria, the Venetians had caused that prince 
to desire him to take another way. But as 
he was never actuated by the same reasons 




94 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


which influence other men, when they heard 
of his departure they did not doubt that it 
was to conduct the supplies himself by the 
way w’hich he had determined upon. They 
did not wish to dispute his passage, which 
they were able to do, because they did not 
intend to break with him ; and they resolved 
to send their fleet to the coasts of Istria, 
where the duke was to disembark his troops; 
to observe his motions, and preserve him 
from the various temptations which might 
assail him at the sight of their maritime 
towns. 

The firmest resolutions of men are gene¬ 
rally formed from a strong impression of the 
danger which must be incurred. By the 
means of this impression and by considering 
them, the mind is at last familiarized with 
the circumstances of the danger, however 
terrible they may be; but as the strength of 
the resolution is so much connected with 
these circumstances that if any of them 
change at the moment of execution it is very 
probable that the resolution may change 
also. 

This is what Renault and the captain 


AGAINST VENICE. 


95 


feared would happen to their companions on 
the occasion of this unforeseen embarkment 
of the Venetian fleet, and this news sensibly 
affected them, because they thought they 
should be obliged to change something in the 
plan which they had arranged for the execu¬ 
tion of their enterprise. This plan could not 

be executed at that moment because the 

* 

night was too far advanced, it would have 
been day before they could give notice to the 
little fleet to advance within cannon shot of 
Venice, where it must be before they could 
begin, and before they could send for the 
troops at the Lazaretto. 

On the next day the Venetians were to 
sail, if Elliot sailed also, he must infallibly 
meet the people who would be all that day 
going to the fleet. Its destination was the 
most favourable which the conspirators could 
wish, it would leave Elliott behind it, and all 
things considered, it was resolved to give it 
time to sail away. 

The difficulty was to determine if the cap¬ 
tain, Langlade, the three petardiers, and the 
other conspirators who had employments on 
board the fleet, should obey the order of the 


96 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


senate; they appeared indispensably neces¬ 
sary at Venice for the execution, particularly 
the captain, and he was obliged to depart, 
since the important post which he held in 
the fleet would make his absence more re¬ 
marked than that of any other. As almost 
all of them were employed on board his ves¬ 
sels, he could supply their places by his au¬ 
thority if he was present, and even prevent 
their absence from being perceived. These 
reasons made them resolve that he should 
depart with Langlade, whose employment in 
the fleet depended on the general, as did the 
three petardiers; but they determined to 
hazard every thing rather than suffer these 
men to go also. The general inquired where 
they were as soon as he saw the captain, 
who replied that he believed they were in 
Venice, concealed in the houses of the cour¬ 
tesans, as well as some officers of his vessels, 
whom he had not been able to find, and that 
the haste with which he had been obliged to 
come had not allowed him time to discover 
where they were. The general had received 
such pressing orders from the senate to sail, 
and he was so much occupied that he could 


AGAINST VENICE. 


97 


not send to seek them for several days, and 
still less wait till they were found. 

Before he embarked the captain had taken 
Jaffier aside and desired him to take his 
place near Renault on the night of the exe¬ 
cution. He exaggerated their confidence in 
his courage and conduct; told him that with¬ 
out that conviction he should never have 
resolved to depart; but that he was con¬ 
vinced he left another self with his compa¬ 
nions since Jaffier remained. During this 
discourse the captain observed him with the 
greatest attention ; but this man, who was 
affected by the esteem which they showed 
for him, replied with an appearance of grati¬ 
tude, fidelity, and zeal which would have 
convinced the most suspicious of men. It 
was the last effort of his waning resolution, 
which entirely disappeared with the counte¬ 
nance of his friend; and having no longer 
before his eyes the only man who could re¬ 
strain him, he abandoned himself to his un¬ 
certainty. 

The description which Renault had made 
of the night of the execution had made such 
an impression on him that he could not mo¬ 
lt 


98 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


derate his pity. His imagination increased 
the force of this representation, he pictured 
to himself in the liveliest colours all the cru¬ 
elties and injustice which are inevitable on 
such occasions. From that moment he heard 
nothing but the cries of children trampled 
under foot, the groans of old men being mur¬ 
dered, the shrieks of women being disho¬ 
noured; he saw nothing but falling palaces, 
temples in flames, holy places covered with 
blood. Venice, miserable and desolate, no 
longer appeared before him as formerly, tri¬ 
umphing over the Ottoman power and the 
pride of Spain, but in cinders or in irons, and 
more bathed in the blood of its inhabitants 
than in the waters which surrounded it. 

This dreadful thought haunted him night 
and day, and shook his resolution. In vain 
he endeavoured to fly from it; more obstinate 
than the fabled furies, it occupied him at his 
meals, it disturbed his rest, it even intruded 
on his dreams. But to betray his friends ! 
and such friends intelligent and brave, unique 
in the talent in which each excelled; it would 
be the work of many ages to assemble toge¬ 
ther as many extraordinary men. At the 


AGAINST VENICE. 


99 


moment when they were about to make them¬ 
selves celebrated to all posterity, could he 
take from them the fruits almost gathered of 
the greatest resolution which ever entered the 
mind of an individual? And how would they 
perish? by more singular and refined tortures 
than had been invented by all the tyrants of 
past ages. Who does not know that at 
Venice there is a prison more capable of 
shaking the firmness of a man of courage 
than all the most horrible tortures of other 
countries ? These last reflections which at¬ 
tacked Jaffier’s weak point, confirmed him in 
his first sentiments; the pity which he felt 
for his companions balanced that which the 
desolation of Venice excited; and he conti¬ 
nued in this uncertainty till Ascension Day, 
which was that fixed on for the execution. 

On that morning news was received from 
the captain. He sent word that he could 
answer for the fleet that it would be near 
Maran, and that when they sent for the 
troops at the Lazaretto, a boat must be dis¬ 
patched to give him notice, and that he 
should wait for this information to begin his 
operations. They sent to Elliot the guides 


100 SPANISH CONSPIRACY 

which had been promised. The men ap¬ 
pointed were introduced into the belfry of 
the Procuratie of St. Mark, they had some 
acquaintance with the guards, and caused 
them to fall asleep by the means of drugs 
and odours mingled with their food and 
drink, and by making them eat and drink to 
excess on account of the public rejoicings of 
the day. Orders were given to officers who 
could be depended on to take possession of 
the houses of those senators who were the 
most to be feared, and to kill them. Each 
person was shown the house which he was 
to attack, as were the principal conspirators, 
and the other officers, the posts they were 
to occupy, the men who were necessary to 
them, the places they were to take them from, 
the word by which they were to know them, 
and the road by which they were to be con¬ 
ducted. Instructions were sent to the troops 
at the Lazaretto, to the Spaniards of the little 
fleet, and to the one thousand Walloons al¬ 
ready in Venice, how they were to divide 
from the Place of St. Mark, where they 
were all to assemble, the posts which they 
were to occupy, the commanders who were 




AGAINST VENICE. 


101 


appointed for them, and the word by which 
they were to know them. They caused the 
Galleys of the Council of Ten to be visited 
by persons not liable to be suspected, and 
found all the artillery fit for use. 

Jaffier had the curiosity to see the cere¬ 
mony of the Doge espousing the Adriatic, 
because it was the last time it would take 
place. His compassion redoubled at the 
sight of the public rejoicings, the tranquillity 
of the unhappy Venetians made him feel their 
approaching desolation more keenly ; and he 
returned more irresolute than ever: but Hea¬ 
ven would not abandon the work of twelve 
centuries, and so much wisdom, to the fury 
of a courtesan and a set of desperate men. 

The good Genius of the republic suggested 
to Jaffier an expedient by which he thought 
he could save both Venice and his compa¬ 
nions. He went to seek Bartholomew 
Comino, secretary to the Council of Ten, 
and told him he had something of conse¬ 
quence to reveal which respected the welfare 
of the state; but that he first demanded a 
favour of the Doge and the Council, which 
was that they should engage themselves by 


102 SPANISH CONSPIRACY 

the most sacred oaths to make the senate 
ratify their promise ; that this favour was, 
that the lives of twenty-two persons whom 
he would name should be spared, whatever 
crimes they might have committed; but that 
they need not think to force his secret from 
him by tortures, for that there were none 
sufficiently horrible to induce him to utter a 
syllable. The Ten were assembled in a 
moment, and sent immediately to the Doge 
to receive from him the oath which Jaffier 
required. He did not hesitate to give it, 
and Jaffier, entirely satisfied with what he 
was going to do, discovered the whole con¬ 
spiracy. 

It appeared to them so horrible and so 
extraordinary that they could not believe it. 
Nevertheless, as it was easy to ascertain the 
truth of it, they sent Comino to the belfry of 
the (Procuratie). He reported that he had 
found the guards all drunk or asleep: he 
was then sent to the arsenal. He was a 
long time before he found the officers who 
had been suborned; but at last a servant, 
intimidated by his threats, showed him a 
small door, which he caused to be broken 


AGAINST VENICE. 


103 


open after having knocked several times in 
vain. He found them with the three petar- 
diers, who were finishing the fireworks des¬ 
tined for the night of the execution. He 
asked them what obliged them to work on 
the day of the festival, and why they did not 
open the door when he knocked ? They re¬ 
plied with great ingenuity, that the three pe- 
tardiers were to join the fleet the next day, 
that the general had commanded them to 
bring a great number of fireworks ready for 
use, and that not having as many made as 
he required, they had desired the others to 
help them to work; and that as it might be 
of consequence, they thought they might 
dispense with observing the festival, and that 
to do so without scandal, they had shut them¬ 
selves up in the most private place in the 
arsenal, which they had chosen on purpose. 
Although Comino could not say any thing to 
this answer, he took them all prisoners. 

The Ten, becoming still more alarmed, sent 
to the house of the Greek woman, but no one 
was found there. The men who had drugged 
the guards had pretended to be asleep also 


104 SPANISH CONSPIRACY 

when they saw Comino; but he was scarcely 
gone when they ran to the house of the 
Greek, and raised such an alarm that, with¬ 
out losing a moment, Nolot, Robert, Revel- 
lido, Retrosi, Villa-Mezzana, Durand, Ter- 
non, and Robert Brulard, who happened to 
be with her, hastened altogether into a boat 
which had been kept at the Rialto to go for 
the troops at the Lazaretto, and escaped out 
of Venice. 

Orders were given to search the houses of 
the ambassadors of France and Spain without 
delay, on account of the disappointment 
caused by their escape. Admittance was 
civilly requested for an affair which was of 
consequence to the safety of the republic. 
The French ambassador immediately granted 
it, and Renault was taken, with Laurence, 
Brulard, and De Bribe. But the Marquis 
de Bedmar refused with anger; he alleged 
the privileges of his office, and furiously pro¬ 
tested against the violence done to him 
when he saw them enter by force. They 
found arms sufficient for five hundred men, 
sixty petards, and an incredible quantity of 


AGAINST VENICE. 


105 


powder, fireworks, and similar articles. They 
made an exact inventory of them, in which 
the marquis assisted while he ridiculed them. 

When this inventory was brought to the 
Council of Ten, a noblemen of the house of 
Valiera arrived with Brainville and Theo¬ 
dore, two of the principal conspirators. They 
had just learned that all was discovered, and 
finding they could not escape because the 
gates were shut after the departure of the 
Greek, they resolved to pretend a wish to 
discover the conspiracy, and went to seek 
this nobleman, whom they had known in 
Flanders, to take them to the Council of 
Ten, w 7 here they were arrested. They searched 
all the inns, public houses, hired apartments, 
infamous places, and others where strangers 
might conceal themselves ; aijd all the offi¬ 
cers, Dutch, French, Spanish, Walloon, 
Neapolitan, or Milanese, to the number of 
four hundred were arrested. 

During these transactions, two Dauphi- 
nese coming from Orange arrived just as they 
had thrown themselves into the boat on quit¬ 
ting their horses. They declared to the 
council that some Frenchmen, who were 


106 SPANISH CONSPIRACY 

their friends, had written to them from Ve- 

■ 

nice that, if they wished to enrich themselves, 
they need only come, for that they had a 
conspiracy ready to execute, to seize the 
city and pillage it, and that they came with 
the greatest haste to discover this iniquity 
instead of taking part in it. They were 
thanked, honourably lodged, and entreated to 
repose themselves while the senate delibe¬ 
rated on the reward which was their due. 

In the meantime morning came, the senate 
assembled, and the Marquis de Bedmar 
demanded audience. The news of the con¬ 
spiracy was spread all over the town, and 
produced the greatest terror. . The people, 
who only had a confused knowledge that the 
Spanish were the authors of it, assembled 
round the palace of the ambassador to force 
it; and were preparing to set it on fire 
when those who were to conduct him to the 
audience arrived. They announced their 
commission. The people, flattering them¬ 
selves with the hope that the senate would 
inflict an exemplary punishment on him, al¬ 
lowed him to go out alone, and followed him, 
uttering imprecations. 


AGAINST VENICE. 


107 


The ambassador, on entering the senate, 
began by grievous complaints of the violence 
which had been committed in his house 
against the rights of men; and he accompa¬ 
nied these complaints with such cruel and 
haughty threats of revenge that the greater 
part of the senators were terrified, and 
feared that this man had still some unknown 
resource to complete his enterprise. The 
Doge replied, that apologies would be made 
for this outrage when he had explained the 
meaning of the preparations for war which 
had been found in his house, when he, as 
an ambassador, ought to be the minister of 
peace. He replied, that he was astonished 
that persons who passed for wise men should 
be so indiscreet as to insult him to his face 
on so frivolous a pretext; that they knew as 
well as himself that those provisions were 
only deposited in his house as others had 
been before, to send to Naples and the Tyrol; 
that every one knew that no arms are so 
good as those made in the towns of the re¬ 
public; and as to the fireworks and other 
things of that kind, the opportunity of some 
clever workmen who offered themselves to 




108 SPANISH CONSPIRACY 

him, had induced him to allow them to work 
for him out of curiosity. 

The Doge interrupted him and said that 
these workmen were wretches, or rather 
monsters, whose existence was a disgrace to 
human nature; and as he said these words, 
he presented to the ambassador a letter of 
credit for the governor of Milan, which had 
been found among the papers of Renault, 
with other letters from the Duke of Ossuna. 

The ambassador replied, that he had al¬ 
ready declared that he could not answer for 
the conduct of the Duke of Ossuna ; that it 
was true that the French ambassador had 
recommended a gentleman to him some time 
ago, who stood in need of favour at Milan 
for some particular affair, that he had given 
this man the letter which had been presented 
to him, but did not know that the republic 
had any interest in the affair. 

The Doge, perceiving by these answers 
that the marquis would never fail in them, 
contented himself with representing to him 
with great gravity, the baseness of his at¬ 
tempt, and ended by protesting that they 
were all far from imagining that the King his 


AGAINST VENICE. 


109 


master had any part in it. The ambassador 
replied to this remonstrance, with all the in¬ 
dignation of an honest man whose honour is 
unjustly attacked, that he was of a nation to 
whom valour and prudence are so natural 
that it would not have recourse to bad arti¬ 
fices to ruin their enemies; that the king his 
master was powerful enough to destroy them 
by open force, without employing treachery, 
and they might perhaps soon experience it. 
He went out abruptly after these words, 
without any ceremony. Those who attended 
him entreated him to repose himself in an 
adjoining apartment, while the senate gave 
the necessary orders to preserve his life; 
and he allowed them to conduct him, trem¬ 
bling with rage, and without making any 
reply. 

While the populace had hastened to the 
place to tear him to pieces the instant the 
senate should give him up, it was easy to 
send assistance to his house, and cause all 
his servants to embark with his most precious 
movables. They then came to seek him, 
and by secret passages of the palace con¬ 
ducted him to an armed brigantine with a 

I. 






no 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


good escort. The people, enraged at his 
escape, made effigies of him and of the Duke 
of Ossuna, which they used exactly as they 
would have done their persons if they had 
been in their power. 

A dispatch was sent at the same time to 
the general of the sea forces, with an order 
to drown Langlade, the Captain Jacques 
Pierre, and all the trusty officers on board 
the captain’s vessels. As it was concluded 
that they would be upon their guard, the most 
foreign built vessel at Venice was chosen to 
carry this message. It was equipped in a 
manner to make them suppose that it did not 
come from that city, and it went round in 
order to appear as if it came from a different 
direction. It was afterwards known that the 
captain had been all the night in expecta¬ 
tion, and seeing this vessel arrive, he im¬ 
mediately retired to his largest ship as if 
he suspected the truth, and intended to de¬ 
fend himself if he was betrayed. But it ap¬ 
pears that the fear of ruining all by evincing 
apprehensions, which might be vain, made 
him deliberate some time, if he ought to de¬ 
clare himself; the general, who did not lose 


AGAINST VENICE. 


Ill 


a moment, sent to him two chosen men not 
liable to be suspected, who entered, to all 
appearance without arms, the place where he 
was ; they found him alone, approached him 
with the same air as usual, suddenly stabbed 
him and threw him into the sea. Langlade, 
and forty of his officers, were treated in the 
same manner with equal secrecy. 

In the meanwhile Renault, being interro¬ 
gated at Venice, replied that he did not know 
what they required of him. The letter of 
credit for Don Pedro, a passport in Spanish 
for all the countries in the Spanish domi¬ 
nions, letters of change for large sums, and 
a thousand pistoles in gold, were shown to 
him. He replied that he knew neither the 
ambassador of Spain, nor the governor of 
Milan; therefore, if any thing relating to 
them had been found among his papers, they 
must have been placed there by others; and 
that the letters of change and the pistoles 
were all he possessed in the world. They 
applied the question ordinary and extraordi¬ 
nary to him. He said nothing new, but that 
he was a poor old man, honest, and of quality 


112 SPANISH CONSPIRACY 

and honour, and that God would avenge 
him. 

He was tortured for several days following, 
and was even promised pardon if he would 
tell all he knew; but it was in vain; and, 
after having been tortured in every possible 
way, he was at last strangled in prison, and 
hung by one foot in public as a traitor. 

The lieutenant of the Count of Nassau, 
the three petardiers, Bribe, Laurence, Bru- 
lard, and the two officers of the arsenal were 
executed in the same way, after suffering the 
question with equal fortitude ; but Brainville, 
Theodore, and more than three hundred 
officers, were only strangled or drowned se¬ 
cretly. 

Jaffier, rendered desperate by the bad suc¬ 
cess of his compassion, loudly complained 
that the Doge and the Council of Ten had 
not adhered to the promise which had been 
given in favour of his companions. It had 
not been violated till after mature delibera¬ 
tion. Many contended that it ought to have 
been religiously observed: others thought 
the case might be doubtful if the conspiracy 


AGAINST VENICE. 


113 


had only been revealed by Jallier; but the 
Dauphinese, who had also discovered it, 
gave the senate a right to act as if Jaliier had 
not made it known. This opinion prevailed, 
supported by the horror and fear of the peo¬ 
ple, although many objections might have 
been made to it. 

* H .. i* 

They tried by various means to appease 
Jaliier. They offered him money and em¬ 
ployment. He refused every thing, and per¬ 
sisted in vainly demanding the lives of his 
companions, and at last left Venice inconso¬ 
lable at their execution. The senate, being 
acquainted with it, sent him an order to quit 
the states of the republic in three days, on 
pain of death, and four thousand sequins, 
which they compelled him to take. The 
pity which he felt for his companions in¬ 
creased as he considered that he was the 
cause of their death. He learnt on the road 
that the design against Brescia was still 
likely to succeed. The desire of revenging 
himself upon the senate induced him to throw 
himself into this town ; but he was scarcely 
there when the Ten, who had penetrated into 
this affair by means of the papers of the con- 


114 


SPANISH CONSPIRACY 


spirators, sent troops who took possession of 
the principal posts, ancl put to the sword all 
the Spaniards who had been introduced into 
the town. Jaffier was taken fighting at their 
head, like a man who only sought to sell his 
life dearly: and being conducted to Venice, 
he was drowned there the day after his ar¬ 
rival. 

The death of this unfortunate man having- 
restored the tranquillity of this great city, 
the first care of the senate was to demand 
another ambassador from Madrid. Don 
Louis Bravo was nominated to this office, 
with orders to set out immediately; and the 
Marquis de Bedmar gave him, according to 
custom, an instruction which w r as reduced 
almost to two points. 

The first of these points was, that the new 
ambassador should highly blame the conduct 
of his predecessor on all occasions; and that 
he should affect to act exactly contrary even 
in the most indifferent things. The other 
point was, that in all affairs which he might 
have to negotiate, touching the rights and 
preeminence of the republic, he should apply 
for information to the “ Squittinio della Li- 


AGAINST VENICE. 


1.15 


berta Venita,” to which the Marquis de Bed- 
mar refers in several parts of this instruction ; 
and in terms which, though circumspect, suf¬ 
ficiently discover the paternal love which he 
felt for this libel. 

A prohibition to impute any part of the 
conspiracy to the King of Spain or the Spa¬ 
niards, on pain of death, was nevertheless 
published by the sound of trumpet and in 
writing, in all the states of the republic. 
Thirty thousand ducats were given to the 
Dauphinese who came purposely from their 
country to discover it. 

Don Pedro seeing the enterprise entirely 
abandoned, dismissed his troops and gave up 
Vercelli. The Duke of Ossuna bestowed 
great riches on the wife and children of the 
captain, and set them at liberty. 

The Marquis de Bedmar received an 
order from Spain to serve as prime minister 
in Flanders, and some years after a cardi¬ 
nal’s hat was sent to him from Rome. 

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CURSORY REMARKS 


ON THE RELATION BETWEEN THE 

TRAGEDY OF VENICE PRESERVED, 
BY OTWAY, 

AND 

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ON WHICH THAT DRAMA IS FOUNDED. 








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CURSORY REMARKS 


ON THE RELATION BETWEEN THE 

T11 AG ED Y OF VENICE PRESERVED, 
BY OTWAY, 

AND 

Zije $)t$torr» of tljc (£on$ptraq) 

ON WHICH THAT DRAMA IS FOUNDED. 


The passions and affections of the human 
mind are so vast and varied that few dra¬ 
matists, in any age or country, have clearly 
comprehended and precisely delineated more 
than a very inconsiderable number of them. 

One great distinction between the poet of 
nature and the mere dramatist is, that the 
poet of nature becomes deeply skilled in all 
the aspects which the passions and affec¬ 
tions assume, when under different situa¬ 
tions ; when they are derived from distinct 




120 REMARKS ON THE TRAGEDY 

principles of character; when those princi¬ 
ples are affected by natural disposition; and 
when they change from the influence of new 
associations originating from external cir¬ 
cumstances : he is also quick in perceiving 
when opposing principles act against each 
other, and produce results from materials so 
delicately blended that the threads which as¬ 
sociate them are scarcely perceptible. The 
mere dramatist generally makes the characters 
subservient to the plots; obtaining a general 
effect which will not bear a scrutiny into the 
means that produce it: his w r orks are often 
adorned with passages of true pathos, and of 
vigour, but the sentiments are not in strict 
accordance with the principles of character of 
the persons who express them. 

There are some who may be placed be¬ 
tween these two. Writers capable of des¬ 
cribing the commencement of a passion, de¬ 
tailing its progress, and forcibly depicting its 
climax, without the power of delineating 
those transient aberrations from its course, 
and those temporary checks which are caused 
by the still small voice of conscience trying 


I 


OF VENICE PRESERVED. 121 

to be heard, and by thoughts which glance 
across the mind with the rapidity of light, 
and which can hardly be recalled when rea¬ 
son has reassumed her empire. Among these 
we may class the neglected the unfortunate 
Otway. His greatest excellence appears to 
consist in exciting the tenderest sympathies 
of our nature, for beings borne down by 
cruelty, oppression, and want. He makes 
them speak the language of nature from the 
fulness of the heart, and to be so entirely 
engrossed by one feeling as not to allow their 
minds to be attracted from it by incidental 
occurrences. His works do not impress us 
with the opinion that his mind was either 
sufficiently capacious, or possessed enough 
vigour, to have wrought out a great and in¬ 
tricate plot. His knowledge of human nature 
seems to have been too circumscribed, and 
too imperfectly defined to have laid open with 
a master’s hand the workings of a soul agi¬ 
tated by contending passions, eager for the 
fulfilment of great projects, and possessing 
an uncommon combination of principles. His 
neglecting to avail himself of the description 
of the Marquis of Bedmar, in whom origi- 

M 




122 


REMARKS ON THE TRAGEDY 


nated the dreadful conspiracy against the 
Republic of Venice, may be considered as a 
proof that he knew the range of his abilities, 
and wisely declined attempting to render 
prominent a character, to have accomplished 
which would have strained even the genius 
of- Shakspeare; for Bedmar possessed “ a 
profound knowledge of the nature of impor¬ 
tant affairs, a singular talent in managing 
them, a facility in speaking and writing in¬ 
finitely agreeable, a wonderful quick and 
penetrating knowledge of men, a .frank and 
gay air, with more of animation than gravity, 
and so far removed from the appearance of 
dissimulation that it approached almost to 
naivete ; he was of a free and complaisant 
temper, more impenetrable because every one 
thought they could see through it; he had 
tender and flattering manners, which invited 
confidence from the most reserved; and every 
appearance of perfect easiness of mind under 
the greatest agitation.” 

This celebrated person is introduced in the 
second act, at a meeting of the conspirators, 
where he conducts himself in direct opposi¬ 
tion to this character, as his words are with- 


OF VENICE PRESERVED. 123 

out force, bis declarations without caution, 
and his opinion of Jaffier without considera¬ 
tion. He remains a silent spectator during 
the time when Belvidera is so unnaturally 
delivered by Jaffier to Pierre as an hostage 
for his fidelity; he is then dismissed and not 
again brought forward. 

The Marquis of Bedmar was known to 
only a few of the leading conspirators, and 
never appeared openly among them. He was 
the secret spring from which their opera¬ 
tions commenced, and by which their motions 
were regulated. Had he been introduced 
bearing himself to those among the conspira¬ 
tors with whom he personally communicated 
as he is described, had he been sometimes 
left to soliloquize on the characters of his 
associates, on the passing occurrences and 
impending execution of his terrible design, 
and in meditating the destruction of Jaffier, 
it would have encreased the interest for him 
and Belvidera, from the uncertainty in which 
it would have involved their fate. 

The Marquis of Bedmar might have been 
substituted for the tiresome Antonio in the 
scene with Aquilina after the condemnation 



/ 


124 REMARKS ON THE TRAGEDY 

of the conspirators. The parting of two such 
characters as Bedmar and the Greek cour¬ 
tesan who harboured the confederates, and 
whose personal injuries and denial of justice 
had wrought up to despair and vengeance, 
might have been rendered highly dramatic, 
and would have formed a powerful contrast 
to the pathetic scenes between Belvidera and 
her husband, and to her interview with her 
father. 

Had the Grecian courtisan been contrasted 
with the tender, lovely, and truly high-mind¬ 
ed Belvidera, it would have added force to 
the effect produced by her sorrows, and re¬ 
lieved the monotony which pervades those 
parts in which she is conspicuous. 

The imaginary character of Antonio might 
have been supplied by that of the eccentric 
Duke of Ossuna. 

The character of Belvidera, which Otway 
has added, established a just claim to high 
reputation. She breathes love and tender¬ 
ness, is adorned with spotless virtue, and 
endowed with an understanding which would 
lead her to act with decision and judgment, 
even if the noblest feelings did not urge her 


OF VENICE PRESERVED. 


125 


to pursue the paths of duty. Praise is also 
due to Otway for connecting Jaffier with 
her, though his conduct to her is revolting 
and inconsistent with either the force of his 
love or his character. 

Priuli, who is made the father of Belvidera, 
was elected doge a short time before the in¬ 
tended execution of the conspiracy. The 
poet had an opportunity of palliating the con¬ 
duct of Jaffier, by giving as an additional rea¬ 
son for his entering into the schemes of Pierre 
and his associates, the absence of Priuli from 
Venice, and of making his return an addi¬ 
tional motive for Jaffier’s impeaching his com¬ 
panions, lest he should sanction the assassi¬ 
nation of the father of his wife. To this he 
might have added Jaffier’s being present at 
the august ceremony of the marriage of the 
doge with the Adriatic, at which he saw the 
senators assembled, the crowds of joyous un¬ 
suspecting people, who, with them, were des¬ 
tined to indiscriminate slaughter, and where 
he looked upon that city gaily decorated so 
soon to be given a prey to devouring flames. 
This sight, we are informed, awoke all the 
slumbering tenderness of his nature, and re- 


L26 REMARKS ON THE TRAGEDY 

vived all the remorse which was stifling in his 
bosom, and might have been used as the means 
of completing the work of repentance Belvi- 
dera had begun. Then the catastrophe would 
have excited still deeper feelings of pity, and 
have left a more lasting recollection. 

In the History of this conspiracy every 
leading character is distinctly drawn. In 
the Tragedy every character taken from it is 
confused, while those added by the poet are 
more clearly defined. The absurdity of de¬ 
picting Belvidera loudly urging Jaffier in the 
street to divulge the conspiracy is too evident 
to require farther comment. The communi¬ 
cations of Pierre to Jaffier on the Rialto are 
equally repulsive to common sense, and are 
not mentioned as occurring in the history. 
The speeches made “ aside,” in the presence 
of those who are not intended to hear them, 
are in this, as in every other tragedy where 
they are introduced, unnatural and ridiculous, 
and must ever be deemed blemishes. Many 
incidents are omitted which would have made 
the intentions of the conspirators more horri¬ 
ble, and which might have been incidentally 
mentioned ; such as the massacre and confia- 


OF VENICE PRESERVED. 


127 


gration, which were to have begun when the 

nation was revelling in mirth.-But as no 

wish exists to diminish the estimation of this 
tragedy, these remarks may be concluded by 
saying, that, if these suggestions are correct, 
the merit of poor Otway will not be dimi¬ 
nished; for the mind, when dwelling on dis¬ 
appointment and injuries, is not left at liberty 
to soar with untiring wing; no sooner does 
it rise than earthly cares compel it again to 
descend, and every succeeding effort dimi¬ 
nishes its power. When sickness, misery, 
and penury are combined with disappoint¬ 
ment and injury, as was Otw r ay's lot, we 
must not be surprised that every advantage 
of character and incident was not seized on; 
but wonder at the vigour of his mind, which 
could compose, when his “ eyelids were 
loosed with sickness, and his bread dipped 
in tears,” so great a tragedy as Venice Pre¬ 
served. 


FINIS. 


C. WhiUingham, College House, Chiswick. 








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